UC-NRLF 


SB    tl 


MILITARY  ORDER  OF  THE  LOYAL  LEGION 


OF  THE 


UNITED  STATES. 

>      I  NECROLOGY 

OF  THE 

COMMANDERY 

OF  THE 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 
1908 


COMPANION 


3Weaiiister  Hehoficld 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL,  UNITED  STATES  ARMY. 


Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion 

OF  THE 

United  States 


NECROLOGY 


OF  THE 


COMMANDERY 


OF  THE 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 
1908 


PRESS    OF    GIBSON    BROTHERS, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 
1908. 


Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion 

OF  THE 

United  States 
Commandery  of  the  District  of  Columbia 


Ifn  flfcemoriam 

COMPANION 

Lieutenant-General 

John  McAllister  Schofield 

UNITED  STATES  ARMY 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Order  1899-1903 


Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion 

OF  THE 

United  States 
Commandery  of  the  District  of  Columbia 


STATED  MEETING  OF  JANUARY  1,  1908 


Excerpt  from  the  Minutes 
*  *  #  #  #  *  # 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Companions  appointed 
at  the  Stated  Meeting  of  May  i,  1907,  to  prepare  an  "In  Me- 
moriam"  Tribute  to  deceased  Companion  Lieutenant-General 
John  McAllister  Schofield,  United  States  Army,  ex-Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Order,  and  in  affiliation  with  the  Commandery 
at  time  of  his  decease,  submitted  the  following  report,  viz: 

"COMMANDER: — Under  the  Resolution,  unanimously  adopted 
at  the  Stated  Meeting  of  April  3,  1907,  your  Committee, 
as  announced  at  the  Stated  Meeting,  May  i,  1907,  has  the 
honor  to  submit,  herewith,  the  'In  Memoriam'  tribute,  as 
contemplated,  to  deceased  Companion,  Lieutenant-General 
JOHN  McALUSTER  SCHOFIKLD,  United  States  Army;  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of 
the  United  States,  1899-1903. 

The  'In  Memoriam'  embraces  contributions  from  your 
Committee : 

1.  Brigadier-General  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  U.  S.  A.,  Chairman. 

2.  Colonel  Felix  A.  Reeve,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 

3.  Acting    Assistant    Paymaster    Frank   W.    Hackett,    late 
U.  S.  Navy. 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIEUX 

and  other  contributions,  as  follows: 

4.  Major-General  Joseph  P.  Sanger,  U.  S.  Army. 

5.  Hon.  John  W.  Foster,  Ex-Secretary  of  State  and  Colonel 
U.  S.  Volunteers. 

*6.  Brigadier-General  William  M.  Wherry,  U.  S.  Army. 
*7.  Brigadier-General  Thomas  J.  Henderson,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 
*8.  The    Right  Rev.   Bishop   Alex.   Mackay-Smith,  of   the 
Diocese  of  Pennsylvania. 

Individual  tributes  have  been  deemed  more  fitting  than 
would  be  a  combined  one  by  your  Committee.  The  contrib 
utors  have  supplemented  each  other.  Where  the  recitals 
have  touched  parts  of  the  same  subject  matter,  it  has  been' 
through  a  simple  variation  of  language;  and  without  consul 
tation  among  or  between  the  contributors.  Increased  value 
and  interest  have  thus  been  added. 

When  the  'In  Memoriam'  shall  have  been  printed,  it  is 
respectfully  recommended  that  a  copy — in  special  and  suitable 
binding — be  forwarded  to  the  widow  of  our  deceased  Com 
panion. 

With  the  highest  respect, 

THOMAS   M.   VINCENT, 
Brigadier-General  U.  S.  Army, 

Chairman. 
For  the  Committee." 

whereupon  it  was  by  unanimous  vote  ordered  that  the  report 
be  accepted,  and,  with  the  accompanying  Tribute,  referred  to 
the  Literary  Committee  and  Board  of  Officers  for  due  action 
in  the  matter  of  publication. 

*  Under  the  requisite  consideration  had  by  the  Commandery  Literary 
Committee  and  Board  of  Officers,  the  valuable  contributions  6,  7,  and 
8,  specified  in  the  foregoing  Report,  have  been  omitted  in  this  publi 
cation,  due  to  promulgation  otherwise.  They  stand,  however,  as  part 
of  the  Commandery  Archives,  and  are  thus  accessible. 


3ltt 

Companion  JOHN  McALLISTER  SCHOFIELD, 

BY 

COMPANION  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  THOMAS  M.  VINCENT, 
U.  S.  ARMY. 


Truly  has  it  been  enunciated,  by  a  noted  biographer,  that,  in 
presenting  any  part  of  the  life  and  deeds  of  any  great  man,  it  is 
difficult,  nay,  impossible,  to  avoid  presenting  also  other  men 
and  other  things.  What  a  man  thinks  and  does;  what  his 
opinions  and  impulses  are;  what  his  relation  to  coincident 
events  and  affairs;  his  heredity;  his  environment;  the  effect 
upon  him  of  the  opinions  and  the  personality  of  other  men; 
the  influence  of  all  these  varied  things  that  happen,  and  of 
which  he  is  a  part — all  these  things  are  so  interwoven  with  the 
man  himself,  that,  in  order  to  get  a  just  appreciation  of  him, 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  them  as  well.  The  foregoing  is 
applicable  to  the  subject  of  this  paper,  embracing,  as  it  does,  the 
events  and  suffering  of  the  people,  of  whom  he  was  a  part, 
during  the  momentous  Civil  War  which  has  led  to  the  "perpet 
ual  union"  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  "inde 
structible  brotherhood  of  the  American  people." 

JOHN  McALUSTER  SCHOFIELD  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Gerry,  Chautauqua  County,  New  York,  September  29,  1831. 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIEUX 

His  father  was  the  Rev.  James  Schofield  who  was  then  pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Sinclair ville,  and,  from  1843  to  1881, 
a  "home  missionary"  engaged  in  organizing  new  churches  and 
building  "meeting  houses,"  in  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Missouri.  His 
mother  was  Caroline  McAllister,  daughter  of  John  McAllister, 
of  Gerry.  The  family  removed  to  Illinois  in  June,  1843 — first 
at  Bristol,  thence  to  Freeport,  where  his  father  began  his  mis 
sionary  work  by  founding  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  that 
place.  Subsequently  he  became  highly  distinguished.  In  the 
Civil  War  he  was  a  Chaplain,  appointed  by  President  Lincoln ; 
and,  in  that  office,  many  were  the  letters  he  wrote  for  dying 
soldiers,  conveying  to  wife  or  mother  the  last  message  of  love. 
In  his  childhood  and  youth  he  had  the  best  possible  oppor 
tunities  for  education,  in  excellent  public  schools  where  the 
rudiments  of  English  were  taught  with  great  thoroughness, 
in  a  fair  amount  of  manly  sports,  and  in  hard  work,  mainly  on 
the  farm  and  in  building  a  new  home,  which  left  no  time,  and 
little  inclination,  for  any  kind  of  mischief.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
he  spent  several  months  in  surveying  public  lands  in  the  wilds 
of  northern  Wisconsin,  and,  at  seventeen,  taught  district  school 
in  the  town  of  Oneco.  By  that  time  he  had  chosen  the  law 
as  his  profession,  and  was  working  hard  to  complete  the  pre 
paratory  studies,  at  his  own  expense.  He  returned  to  Freeport 
in  1849,  and  resumed  "his  struggle  with  Latin."  Then  the 
course  of  his  life  was  unexpectedly  changed,  due  to  his  having 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  J.  Turner,  M.  C.  Mr. 
Turner,  as  one  of  the  public  school  directors,  had  been  present 
at  an  examination  where  young  SCHOFIELD'S  subject  was 
mathematical.  Besides,  he  had  heard  of  the  stamina  of  the  boy 

8 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIEXD. 

shown  in  the  public  land-surveying  expedition ;  and  also  from 
his  father  the  desire  of  his  son  to  get  a  good  education  before 
beginning  the  study  of  law.  The  result  was  the  appointment 
of  SCHOFIELD  to  the  United  States  Military  Academy.  To  get 
there  he  sold  a  piece  of  land,  the  investment  of  all  his  little 
savings,  thus  to  fit  out  and  meet  the  expenses  of  the  trip. 
He  reported  at  West  Point,  June  i,  1849,  with  less  than  two 
dollars  in  his  pocket,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  and  nine 
months.  He  was  soon  met  by  William  P.  Carlin,  of  the  second 
class,  and  Hezekia  H.  Garber,  of  the  third,  both  from  Illinois ; 
and  their  protection  in  a  brotherly  way,  with  timely  advice, 
saved  him  from  "anything  even  approaching  to  hazing."  For 
his  room-mates,  in  the  old  South  Barrack,  he  had  Henry  H. 
Walker  and  John  R.  Chambliss — "two  charming  fellows  from 
Virginia."  As  to  incidents  of  his  cadet  life  we  have  his  own 
words:  *  *  *  "The  first  summer  I  was  on  guard  only 
once.  Then  the  Corporal  of  the  grand-rounds  tried  to  charge 
over  my  post  without  giving  the  countersign,  because  I  had 
not  challenged  promptly.  We  crossed  bayonets,  but  I  proved 
too  strong  for  him,  and  he  gave  it  up,  to  the  great  indignation 
of  the  officer  of  the  day,  who  had  ordered  him  to  charge,  and 
who  threatened  to  report  me  but  did  not.  That  night  I  slept 
on  the  ground  outside  the  guard  tents,  and  caught  cold,  from 
which  my  eyes  became  badly  inflamed,  and  I  was  laid  up  in  the 
hospital  during  the  remainder  of  the  encampment.  On  that 
account  I  had  a  hard  struggle  with  my  studies  the  next  year." 
*  *  *  "In  our  third  class  encampment,  when  Corporal 
of  the  Guard,  I  had  a  little  misunderstanding  one  night  with 
the  sentinel  on  post  along  Fort  Clinton  ditch,  which  was  then 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

nearly  filled  by  a  growth  of  bushes.  The  sentinel  tore  the 
breast  of  my  shell-jacket  with  the  point  of  his  bayonet,  and 
I  tumbled  him  over  backward  into  the  ditch  and  ruined  his 
musket.  But  I  quickly  helped  him  out,  and  gave  him  my 
musket  in  place  of  his,  with  ample  apologies  for  my  thought 
less  act.  We  parted  *  *  *  in  the  best  of  feelings."  *  *  * 

SCHOFIELD  devoted  only  a  fraction  of  study  hours  to  the 
Academic  Course — generally  one  hour,  or  one-and-a-half,  to 
each  lesson.  He  never  intentionally  neglected  any  of  his 
studies.  It  simply  seemed  to  him  that  a  great  part  of  his  time 
could  be  better  employed  in  getting  the  education  he  desired 
by  the  study  of  law,  history,  rhetoric,  and  general  literature. 
But  he  never  disparaged  the  West  Point  education.  He  has 
said:  "As  it  was,  and  is  now,  there  is,  I  believe,  nothing  equal 
to  it  any  where  in  this  country.  Its  methods  of  developing  the 
reasoning  faculties  and  habits  of  independent  thought  are  the 
best  ever  devised.  West  Point  training  of  the  mind  is  practi 
cally  perfect."  His  habit  was  in  harmony  with  the  expression : 
"He  reads  much;  he  is  a  great  observer,  and  he  looks  quite 
through  the  deeds  of  men.  *  *  *  Literature  gives  a  wide 
and  deep  insight  into  the  nature  of  men  and  things." 

Due  to  the  instructive  teaching  he  received  at  West  Point, 
SCHOFIELD,  from  the  date  of  his  first  duty  as  a  commissioned 
officer,  enunciated  that:  "Nothing  is  more  absolutely  indispen 
sable  to  a  good  soldier  than  perfect  subordination  and  zealous 
service  to  him  whom  the  national  will  may  make  the  official 
superior  for  the  time  being."  *  *  *  But  the  relation 
between  the  Army  and  its  administrative  head,  and  with  the 
civil  power,  are  by  no  means  so  simple.  When  a  too  confident 


JOHN  MCALLISTER  SCHOFIEXD. 

soldier  rubs  up  against  them,  he  learns  what  "military  disci 
pline"  really  means.  It  sometimes  takes  a  civilian  to  "teach 
a  soldier  his  place  in  the  government  of  a  republic."  *  *  * 

His  constitutional  habit  once  led  him  into  a  very  foolish 
exploit  at  West  Point.  A  discussion  arose  as  to  the  possibility 
of  going  to  New  York  and  back  without  danger  of  detection, 
and  he  explained  the  plan.  He  was  promptly  challenged  to 
undertake  it  for  a  high  wager,  and  that  challenge  overcame 
any  scruple  he  may  have  had.  He  did  not  care  for  the  brief 
visit  to  New  York,  and  had  only  five  dollars,  loaned  him  by 
Jerome  N.  Bonaparte.  But  he  went  to  the  city  and  back,  in 
perfect  safety,  between  the  two  roll-calls  he  had  to  attend  that 
day.  He  returned  to  the  Point  a  few  minutes  before  evening 
parade,  walked  across  the  plain  in  full  view  of  the  crowd  of 
officers  and  ladies,  and  appeared  in  ranks  at  roll-call,  as  innocent 
as  anybody. 

After  his  entrance  at  West  Point  he  attended  the  Bible 
class  regularly  every  Sunday,  and  rejoiced  greatly  to  hear  the 
Scriptures  expounded  by  the  Chaplain  who  was  the  Professor 
of  Ethics.  He  attached  due  value  to  the  religious  instruction 
thus  received,  and,  after  he  had  advanced  in  years  and  was  the 
General-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  said:  "I  have  never,  even  to 
this  day,  been  willing  to  read  or  listen  to  what  seemed  to  me 
irreverent  words,  even  though  they  might  be  intended  to  con 
vey  ideas  not  very  different  from  my  own.  It  has  seemed 
to  me  that  a  man  ought  to  speak  with  reverence  of  the  religion 
taught  him  in  his  childhood  and  believed  by  his  fellow  men, 
or  else  keep  his  philosophical  thoughts,  however  profound,  to 
himself." 

it 


JOHN   MCALLISTER 

January  9,  1897,  before  the  State  Baptist  Convention  of 
Florida,  he  delivered  an  address  wherein  he  said:  *  *  * 
''When  I  was  13  years  old  my  own  father  baptized  me  in  the 
Jordan  of  Illinois.  And  amid  all  the  sectarian  speculations  and 
discussions  I  have  ever  heard  in  more  than  half  a  century,  it 
has  remained  constantly  in  my  mind,  as  a  fact  of  my  own 
experience,  that,  whatever  may  have  happened  to  anybody 
else,  I  have  been  baptized !  When  about  30  years  of  age,  after 
careful  and  conscientious  study,  I  became  united  to  the  Protes 
tant  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  faith,  substantially,  I  have 
steadfastly  continued  up  to  the  present  time.  But,  for  some 
years,  members  of  my  family,  who  were  communicants  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  were  criticized  indirectly  through  attacks 
upon  certain  tenets  of  the  faith  of  that  Church,  in  a  manner 
that  seemed  to  me  unkind  and  unjust;  but  it  mattered  little, 
as  to  the  fact,  whether  unjust  or  not.  Though  I  always  have 
loved  peace  rather  than  war,  and  have  never  been  disposed 
to  seek  a  fight,  that  element  in  my  nature  was  aroused  that 
impels  the  tiger  to  action  when  his  mate  or  her  young  are 
assailed.  I  did  not  permit  anybody  to  attack  the  old  Church 
in  my  presence,  in  a  manner  which  seemed  to  me  harsh  or 
unjust,  without  resenting  the  implied  insult  to  those  who  were 
dear  to  me.  I  doubt  if  old  Rome  ever  had  a  champion  more 
earnest  than  I  at  least  appeared  to  be  at  such  times."  *  *  * 

"In  conclusion  I  will  simply  add,  Jest  I  may  be  misunder 
stood,  that  my  present  religious  faith  is  to  be  found  in  that 
code  of  Christian  doctrine  upon  which  all  the  great  doctors 
of  divinity,  of  all  creeds,  who  have  studied  and  discussed  the 
subjects  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  are  substantially  agreed. 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

And  I  am  quite  sure  the  Divine  Founder  of  Christianity  does 
not  require  me  to  bother  my  poor  head  about  nice  questions 
upon  which  the  learned  doctors  are  still  disputing." 

SCHOFIELD,  as  a  cadet,  manifested  that  "intrepidity"  which 
in  a  higher  degree  distinguished  him,  through  all  the  dangers 
and  trials  of  his  life,  as  a  commissioned  officer.  Once  when  his 
horse  ran  away  with  him  at  cavalry  drill,  and  placed  his  life 
in  jeopardy,  he  sat  the  animal  firmly — with  bridle  and  saber 
hands  in  military  position — and,  by  speaking  to  the  animal, 
regained  control  and  rode  back  rapidly  to  the  squadron.  His 
composure,  under  the  circumstances,  was  remarkable!  On 
another  occasion,  while  the  class  was  at  artillery  drill,  elevating 
a  heavy  gun  to  position  on  its  carriage,  a  skid  gave  way  and  the 
gun  fell  crashing  to  the  ground — the  skids  moving  with  great 
force  in  all  directions.  The  members  of  the  class  moved  rapidly 
for  their  lives!  SCHOFIELD'S  serenity  was  magnificent! 

Near  the  last  year  of  his  cadetship,  an  event  nearly  proved 
fatal  to  his  military  prospects.  As  to  this  we  have  his  own 
words:  *  *  *  "I  was  given  charge  of  a  section  (of  the 
candidates,  who  had  reported  June  i)  in  arithmetic,  and  have 
never  in  all  my  life  discharged  my  duty  with  more  conscientious 
fidelity  than  I  drilled  those  boys  in  the  subject  with  which 
I  was  familiar,  and  in  teaching  which  I  had  some  experience. 
We  had  gone  over  the  entire  course  upon  which  they  were 
to  be  examined,  and  all  were  well  prepared  except  two  who 
seemed  hopelessly  deficient  upon  a  few  subjects,  which  they  had 
been  unable  to  comprehend.  I  took  them  to  the  blackboard 
and  devoted  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  before  the  bugle- 
call  to  a  final  effort  to  prepare  them  for  the  ordeal  which  they 

13 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

must  face  the  next  morning.  While  I  was  thus  employed 
several  of  my  classmates  came  into  the  room,  and  began  talking 
to  the  other  candidates.  Though  their  presence  annoyed  me, 
it  did  not  interfere  with  my  work;  so  I  kept  on  intently  with 
the  two  young  boys  until  the  bugle  sounded. 

"I  then  went  to  my  quarters,  without  paying  any  attention 
to  the  interruption,  or  knowing  anything  of  the  character  of 
what  had  occurred.  But  one  of  the  candidates,  perhaps  by  way 
of  excuse  for  his  failure,  wrote  to  his  parents  some  account  of 
the  "deviltry"  in  which  my  classmates  had  indulged  that  day. 
That  report  found  its  way  to  the  War  Department,  and  was  soon 
followed  by  an  order  to  the  commandant  of  cadets  to  investi 
gate.  The  facts  were  found  to  fully  exonerate  me  from  any 
participation  in,  or  countenance  of  the  deviltry,  except  that 
I  did  not  stop  it ;  and  showed  that  I  had  faithfully  done  my  duty 
in  teaching  the  candidates.  After  this  investigation  was  over 
I  was  called  upon  to  answer  for  my  own  conduct;  and,  the 
names  of  my  guilty  classmates  being  unknown  to  the  candi 
dates,  I  was  held  responsible  for  their  conduct.  I  answered 
by  averring  and  showing,  as  I  believed,  my  own  innocence 
of  all  that  had  been  done,  except  my  neglect  of  duty  in  toler 
ating  such  a  proceeding.  My  conscience  was  so  clear  of  any 
intentional  wrong  that  I  had  no  anxiety  about  the  result.  But 
in  due  time  came  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War  dismissing 
me  from  the  Academy  without  trial !  That,  I  believe,  shocked 
me  a  little;  but  the  sense  of  injustice  was  too  strong  in  my 
mind  to  permit  of  a  doubt  that  it  would  be  righted  when  the 
truth  was  known.  I  proposed  to  go  straight  to  Washington 
and  lay  the  facts  before  the  Government.  *  *  *  So  I 

14 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

carried  with  me  a  great  bundle  of  letters  setting  forth  my 
virtues  in  terms  which  might  have  filled  the  breast  of  George 
Washington  with  pride.  *  *  *  I  had  made  an  early  call 
upon  the  'Little  Giant,'  Senator  Douglass,  to  whom  I  had  no 
letter,  and  whom  I  had  never  met;  had  introduced  myself 
as  a  'citizen  of  Illinois'  in  trouble;  and  had  told  my  story. 
*  *  *  He  replied:  'Come  up  in  the  morning  and  we  will 
go  to  see  about  it.'  *  *  *  I  waited  in  the  ante-room 
only  a  few  minutes,  when  the  great  Senator  came  out  with  a 
genial  smile  on  his  face,  shook  me  warmly  by  the  hand,  and 
bade  me  good-bye,  saying:  'It  is  all  right.  You  can  go  back 
to  West  Point.  The  Secretary  (of  War)  has  given  me  his 
promise.'  *  *  *  I  returned  to  West  Point,  and  went 
through  the  long  forms  of  a  court  of  inquiry,  a  court-martial, 
and  the  waiting  for  the  final  action  of  the  War  Department — all 
occupying  five  or  six  months — diligently  attending  to  my  mili 
tary  and  Academic  duties,  and  trying  hard  to  obey  all  the  regu 
lations  (except  as  to  smoking),  never  for  a  moment  doubting 
the  final  result.  *  *  *  Implicit  trust  in  Providence  does 
not  seem  to  justify  any  neglect  to  employ  the  biggest  battalions 
and  the  heaviest  guns!  *  *  *  I  had  been  Corporal,  Ser 
geant  and  Lieutenant  up  to  the  time  of  my  dismissal;  hence 
the  duties  of  private  were  a  little  difficult,  and  I  found  it  hard 
to  avoid  demerits."  *  *  * 

Lieutenant  Milton  Cogswell  had  been  very  kind  to  SCHO 
FIELD  during  the  period  he  was  striving  for  restoration,  and,  in 
that  connection,  we  have  these  words:  "Hence,  after  my  com 
plete  restoration  to  the  Academy,  in  January,  I  found  my 
demerits  accumulating  with  alarming  rapidity,  and  I  applied 

15 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

for  and  obtained  a  transfer  to  Company  C,  where  I  would  be 
under  Lieutenant  Cogswell  and  Cadet-Captain  Vincent,  my 
beloved  class-mate,  who  had  invited  me  to  share  his  room  in 
barracks."  Prior  to  this  transfer,  he  had  been  under  a  tactical 
officer  esteemed  as  a  most  accomplished  soldier  and  tactician, 
and  the  most  rigid,  but  just  and  impartial  disciplinarian. 
Cadets  under  his  charge  were  reported  more  frequently — even 
for  light  offences — than  by  other  tactical  officers. 

He  had  exceeding  respect  and  admiration  for  Colonel  Robert 
E.  Lee,  the  Superintendent,  and  Major  Robert  S.  Garnett, 
"the  Commandant;  and  often  referred  to  their  dignity,  impar 
tial  justice,  and  kindness.  They  had  been  his  friends  in  time 
of  need ! 

His  first  orders,  after  his  graduating  leave,  assigned  him  to 
Fort  Moultrie,  S.  C.,  as  Second  Lieutenant,  by  brevet,  in  the 
Second  Artillery.  He  landed  at  Charleston,  September  21, 
1853,  his  birthday,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years.  At  the 
usual  target  practice  he  used  the  same  guns  that  bombarded 
Fort  Sumter  in  1861.  As  to  his  enjoyment  in  society,  he  has 
said :  ' '  Hospitality  was  unbounded  and  of  the  most  charming 
character.  Nothing  that  I  have  ever  experienced,  at  home  or 
in  the  great  capitals  of  Europe,  has  surpassed  or  dimmed  that 
first  introduction  to  southern  society."  In  December,  1853, 
he  was  ordered  to  Fort  Capron,  Florida,  and  removed  to  that 
station  via  Jacksonville,  Palatka,  Lake  Monroe,  New  Smyrna, 
Mosquito  Lagoon,  and  Indian  River.  It  required  twenty-five 
days  for  the  journey  which,  at  that  time,  was  deemed  quite  satis 
factory.  At  Fort  Capron  he  met  a  garrison  of  four  officers 
and  sixteen  enlisted  men  of  Battery  D,  First  Artillery,  recently 

16 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

from  the  Gulf  coast,  where  yellow  fever  had  been  deadly.  The 
post  was  remote  from  civilization,  and  received  its  mail  gener 
ally  twice  a  month.  An  interruption  resulted  in  that  diversion, 
and  no  mail  arrived  for  three  months !  Fortunately  for  SCHO- 
FiELD  he  had  some  law  books — so  few  indeed  that  he  learned 
nearly  all  of  them  by  heart;  then,  for  want  of  anything  better, 
he  read  the  entire  code  of  the  State  of  Florida,  and  extended 
attention  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Of  the 
latter  he  could  repeat  the  exact  words. 

In  the  winter  of  1853-4,  connected  with  the  armed  truce 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Seminole  Nation,  the  policy 
of  the  Government  had  for  its  object  the  establishment  of  a  line 
of  posts  across  the  State  of  Florida  from  Jupiter  to  Okeechobee, 
and  thence  westward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — thus  to  confine 
the  vSeminoles  to  the  Everglade  region.  SCHOFIELD'S  first 
work,  in  the  winter  of  1854-55,  was  to  open  the  old  military 
road — route  of  General  Twiggs — from  the  mouth  of  Indian 
River,  across  the  Kissimmce  and  thence  to  Tampa.  There 
after  the  next  step  in  the  War  Department  strategical  opera 
tions  was  to  occupy  Fort  Jupiter,  construct  a  newr  post  there, 
open  the  old  military  route — road  of  Generals  Jesup  and 
Eustis — and  build  a  block -house  on  the  east  shore  of  Okeecho 
bee  Lake.  Similar  work,  inclusive  of  another  block-house,  was 
to  be  undertaken  from  the  other  shore  of  the  lake  westward. 
With  the  western  portion  I  was  connected,  inclusive  of  the 
exploration  of  the  Big  Cypress  swamp  and  the  Everglades. 
Thus,  with  the  first  field  operations,  SCHOFIELD  and  myself  were 
engaged.  Our  topographical  labors  became  connected  and 
recorded  through  the  War  Department  publication  of  April, 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

1856:  "Florida  South  of  Tampa  Bay."  In  the  discharge  of 
our  duties  we  were  stimulated  by  being  in  the  region  of  his 
torical  battlefields — General  (subsequently  President)  Taylor's 
Battle  of  Okeechobee,  December  25,  1837,  and  General  Jesup's, 
January  24,  1838,  not  remote  from  Fort  Jupiter. 

With  the  advent  of  hot  weather,  fever  and  dysentery — both 
east  and  west  of  Okeechobee — broke  out.  At  Jupiter,  nearly 
every  man,  woman  and  child  sickened.  The  mortality  was  so 
great  that  hardly  enough  strong  men  remained  to  bury  the 
dead !  SCHOFIELD,  so  soon  as  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  from 
an  attack,  was  sent  with  other  convalescents  to  Fort  Capron ; 
and  there  he  acted  as  Post  Surgeon,  in  the  absence  of  a  medical 
officer,  aided  by  an  intelligent  hospital  steward.  Among  others 
nursed  by  him  at  Capron  was  Lieutenant  A.  P.  Hill — after 
wards  L/ieutenant-General  in  the  Confederate  Army.  Hill 
subsequently  nursed  SCHOFIELD  during  his  serious  relapse  on 
the  vSt.  Johns  River  steamer,  at  Savannah  and  Charleston ;  and 
when  well  enough  to  travel,  took  him  to  Culpeper,  Virginia, 
where  his  devoted  attention  was  continued  for  quite  a  long  time. 

While  at  Capron,  SCHOFIELD  was  promoted  to  First  Lieu 
tenant,  and  ordered  to  West  Point,  where  his  restored  health 
permitted  him  to  report  the  following  December,  1 855.  He  ever 
retained  vivid  recollection  of  his  Florida  service,  and  referred 
to  the  roads  cut  through  the  roots  of  the  terrible  saw-palmetto 
and  corduroyed  through  swamps,  with  comfort  to  person 
entirely  destroyed  by  the  song  and  sting  of  the  mosquito,  and 
the  bite  of  the  flea  and  sand-fly.  Constant  alertness  was 
demanded,  due  to  huge  alligators,  and  poisonous  serpents — 
moccasins  and  rattlers.  Connected  with  the  expected  renewal 

18 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

of  hostilities  of  the  Seminoles,  the  hardships  of  the  exploration 
duties  recalled  the  former  war,  1835-42,  and  the  peculiarity  of 
the  service  to  which  the  forces  therein  engaged  were  subjected : 
"There  was  to  be  seen,  in  the  Everglades,  the  dragoon  in  water 
from  three  to  four  feet  deep,  the  sailor  and  marine  wading  in 
the  mud  in  the  midst  of  cypress  stumps,  and  the  soldiers,  infan 
try  and  artillery,  alternating  on  the  land,  in  the  water,  and  in 
boats.  *  *  *  Comforts  and  conveniences  were  totally 
disregarded,  even  subsistence  was  reduced  to  the  lowest  ex 
tremity.  Night  after  night  officers  and  men  were  compelled  to 
sleep  in  their  canoes,  others  in  damp  bogs,  and  in  the  morning 
cook  their  breakfast  over  a  fire  built  on  a  pile  of  sand  in  the 
prow  of  the  boat,  or  kindled  around  a  cypress  stump."  *  *  * 
Similar  experiences  resulted,  to  a  painful  extent,  in  the  Florida 
hostilities  of  1854-57. 

West  of  Okeechobee,  almost  entire  commands  were  pros 
trated  with  serious  illness.  Post  and  cantonment  hospitals  \vere 
inadequate,  and,  as  a  result,  an  extensive  general  hospital — 
approved  by  Jefferson  Davis,  then  Secretary  of  War — had  to 
be  erected  at  Fort  Myers,  not  remote  from  the  Gulf  coast. 

At  West  Point  SCHOFIELD  was  assigned  to  duty  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  Philosophy,  under  Professor  W.  H.  C.  Bartlett:  "One 
of  the  ablest,  most  highly  esteemed,  and  most  beloved  of  the 
great  men  who  have  placed  the  United  States  Military  Academy 
among  the  foremost  institutions  of  the  world." 

SCHOFIELD  has  said  that  he  had  the  great  good  fortune  never 
to  be  compelled  to  report  a  cadet  for  any  delinquency,  nor 
to  find  one  deficient  in  studies,  though  he  did  sometimes  have, 
figuratively  speaking,  to  beat  them  over  the  head  with  a  cudgel 

19 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

to  get  in  enough  "phil"  to  pass  the  Academic  Board.  In  his 
congenial  West  Point  work,  with  the  object  "to  develop  the 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  man  to  as  high  a  degree  as  possi 
ble,  and  to  ascertain  his  best  place  in  the  public  service,"  SCHO 
FIELD  formed,  for  the  first  time,  the  habit  of  earnest,  hard  mental 
work,  to  the  limit  of  his  capacity  for  endurance,  and  sometimes 
a  little  beyond,  which  he  retained  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 
He  overtaxed  himself,  and  was  forced  to  take  a  short  leave  on 
account  of  his  Florida  debility,  which  had  reduced  him  almost 
to  a  skeleton.  When  he  returned  to  duty  he  began  to  pursue 
physics  into  its  more  secret  depths.  He  ever  indulged  the 
"ambition  to  work  out  the  mathematical  interpretation  of  all 
the  phenomena  of  physical  science,  including  electricity  and 
magnetism."  He  mastered  practical  astronomy,  and,  as  a 
result,  said:  "I  do  not  believe  anything  else  in  the  broad 
domain  of  science  can  be  half  so  fascinating  as  the  study  of 
the  heavens." 

In  the  midst  of  his  absorbing  occupation,  he  forgot  all  about 
the  career  he  had  chosen  in  his  boyhood;  the  law  did  not 
longer  have  its  charm  for  him.  Yet  he  found,  in  after  life, 
far  more  use  for  the  law  than  for  physics  and  astronomy,  and 
little  less  than  for  the  art  and  science  of  war. 

In  June,  1857,  he  married  Miss  Harriet  Bartlett,  daughter 
of  his  chief  in  the  Department  of  Philosophy.  Five  children 
were  born  to  that  union:  John  Rathbone,  born  1858,  died 
1868;  William  Bartlett  (now  Major  U.  S.  A.),  born  1860; 
Henry  Halleck,  born  1862,  died  1862;  Mary  Campbell  (now 
Mrs.  Avery  D.  Andrews),  born  1865;  Richmond  McAllister 
(now  Major  U.  S.  A.),  born  1867. 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

His  term  of  service  at  West  Point  ended  in  the  summer  of 
1860.  He  has  said  that  his  taste  for  service  in  the  line  of 
the  army  was  gone;  all  hope  of  promotion  was  still  further 
away;  he  had  been  for  more  than  four  years  about  nineteenth 
First  Lieutenant  in  his  regiment,  without  rising  a  file ;  he  was 
a  man  of  family;  and  there  was  no  captaincy  in  sight  for  him 
during  the  ordinary  lifetime  of  man.  Accordingly  he  accepted 
the  Professorship  of  Physics  in  the  Washington  University,  St. 
Louis,  Missouri.  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  Secretary  of  War,  gave 
him  a  timely  hint  that  promotion  might  improve,  and  General 
Scott  gave  him  a  highly  flattering  indorsement  which  secured 
leave  of  absence  for  a  year.  Thus  he  retained  his  commission. 

As  the  period  of  the  Civil  War  approached  he  occupied 
a  very  large  part  of  his  time  in  reading  and  studying,  as  coolly 
as  possible,  every  phase  of  the  momentous  questions  which  he 
had  been  warned  "must  probably  be  submitted  to  the  decision 
of  war."  He  took  an  early  occasion  to  inform  General  Scott 
of  his  readiness  to  relinquish  his  leave  of  absence  and  return 
to  duty,  whenever  his  services  might  be  required.  His  life 
in  St.  Louis,  during  the  eight  months  preceding  the  war,  was 
of  great  benefit  to  him  in  the  delicate  and  responsible  duties 
which  so  soon  devolved  upon  him.  His  connection  with  the 
Washington  University  brought  him  into  close  relations  with 
many  of  the  most  patriotic,  enlightened,  and,  above  all,  unsel 
fish  citizens  of  Missouri — some  were  of  the  Southern  school; 
but  the  large  majority  were  earnest  Union  men,  though  holding 
various  shades  of  opinion  on  the  question  of  slavery.  They 
were  philanthropic,  and  had  learned  to  respect  the  sincerity 
of  each  other's  adverse  convictions. 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

With  the  dawn  that  military  force  would  soon  be  required, 
he  informed  the  War  Department  that  he  stood  ready  for  mili 
tary  service,  and  was  instructed  to  await  orders  at  St.  Louis. 
As  soon  as  President  Lincoln  made  his  first  call  for  volunteers 
orders  were  received  by  him  to  organize  and  muster  in  the 
Missouri  quota.  He  urged  the  Department  Commander  as 
to  the  necessity  for  prompt  action  to  protect  the  St.  Louis 
arsenal,  and  made  known  to  him  a  rumor  that  an  attack  was 
to  be  made  by  persons  encamped  near  the  city  under  the  guise 
of  State  militia.  In  connection  with  Captain  Lyon,  then  com 
manding  the  arsenal,  he  was  active,  night  and  day,  in  getting 
loyal  secret  organizations  into  the  arsenal,  and  distributing  arms 
and  ammunition  to  them.  Thus  the  safety  of  the  arsenal  was 
secured. 

The  strength  of  the  force  mustered  by  SCHOFIELD — with 
which  the  war  in  Missouri  began — was  about  14,000.  June  24, 
1 86 1,  he  made  full  report  of  the  force  to  the  Adjutant-General, 
U.  S.  A. ;  and,  the  next  day,  he  was  relieved  from  organizing  and 
mustering  duty,  with  orders  to  report  to  General  Lyon  at  Boon- 
ville,  as  his  Adjutant-General  and  Chief  of  Staff.  Lyon  had 
been  elected  Brigadier-General  of  the  militia,  and,  May  17,  was 
appointed  by  the  President  to  the  same  grade  in  the  United 
States  Volunteer  forces.  May  30,  General  Harney  was  relieved 
from  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  West,  and  General 
Lyon  became  the  commander.  May  10,  Lyon  had  marched 
with  the  force  then  organized  and  caused  the  surrender  of  the 
militia  at  Camp  Jackson.  That  force,  though  a  lawful  State 
organization,  was  an  incipient  rebel  army,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  crush  it  in  the  bud.  In  recognition  of  SCHOFIELD'S  most 

22 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

valuable  services  connected  with  the  surrender,  he  was  desig 
nated  by  General  L/yon  to  receive  the  surrender,  take  charge 
of  the  prisoners,  conduct  them  to  the  arsenal,  and  there  parole 
them.  The  possession  of  St.  Louis  was  thus  secured,  and  fur 
ther  operations  could  be  conducted  in  the  interior  of  the  State. 
Accordingly,  June  26,  SCHOFIELD  joined  Lyon  at  Boonville. 
The  objective  of  the  Union  forces  was  the  southwestern  part  of 
Missouri,  and  preparations  were  made  accordingly;  General 
Lyon's  march  began  July  3,  and  the  command  reached  Spring 
field  July  13,  and  there  met  Sigel's  Brigade. 

General  Fremont  reached  St.  Louis  July  25,  1861,  and,  at 
the  start,  found  himself  in  an  enemy's  country.  St.  Louis  was 
in  sympathy  with  the  South,  and  the  State  of  Missouri  in  active 
rebellion  against  the  national  authority.  "In  addition  to  the 
bodies  of  armed  men  that  swarmed  over  the  State,  a  Confederate 
force  of  nearly  50,000  men  was  already  on  the  Southern  frontier ; 
Pillow,  with  12,000,  advancing  upon  Cairo;  Thompson,  with 
5,000,  upon  Girardeau;  Hardee,  with  5,000,  upon  Ironton;  and 
Price,  with  an  estimated  force  of  25,000,  upon  Lyon  at  Spring 
field.  Their  movement  was  intended  to  overrun  Missouri,  and, 
supported  by  a  friendly  population  of  over  a  million,  to  seize 
upon  St.  Louis  and  make  that  city  a  center  of  operations  for 
the  invasion  of  the  loyal  States." 

"General  Lyon's  intention  was,  upon  effecting  junction  with 
Sturgis  and  Sigel  (at  Springfield),  to  push  forward  and  attack 
the  enemy,  if  possible,  while  we  were  superior  to  him  in  strength. 
#  #  *  The  troops  had  to  live  upon  the  country,  and  many 
of  them  were  without  shoes.  A  continuous  march  of  more 
than  two  or  three  days  was  impossible.  Lyon's  force  was 

23 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFlELD. 

rapidly  diminishing,  and  would  soon  almost  disappear  by  the 
discharge  of  the  three  months'  men,  while  that  of  the  enemy 
was  as  rapidly  increasing,  and  becoming  more  formidable  by 
additions  to  its  supplies  of  arms  and  ammunition.  Lyon  made 
frequent  appeals  for  reinforcements  and  provisions,  but  received 
little  encouragement,  and  soon  became  convinced  that  he  must 
rely  upon  the  resources  then  at  his  command.  He  was  un 
willing  to  abandon  southwestern  Missouri  to  the  enemy  without 
a  struggle,  even  though  almost  hopeless  of  success,  and  deter 
mined  to  bring  on  a  decisive  battle,  if  possible,  before  his  short- 
termed  volunteers  were  discharged."  General  Ly on 's  perplexed- 
ness  was  so  heavy  that  he  did  not  rise,  as  said  by  SCHOFIELD, 
"to  an  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  his  duty,  as  com 
mander  in  the  field  of  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Union 
Armies,  was  not  to  protect  a  few  loyal  people  from  the  inevitable 
hardships  of  war,  *  *  *  but  to  make  as  sure  as  possible 
the  defeat  of  the  hostile  army,  no  matter  whether  to-day, 
to-morrow,  or  next  month."  Otherwise  "the  Battle  of  Wilson's 
Creek  would  not  have  been  fought."  August  9,  Lyon  received 
a  letter  from  Fremont,  then  commanding  the  Department,  to 
the  effect  that  '  'if  Lyon  was  not  strong  enough  to  maintain  his 
position  as  far  in  advance  as  Springfield,  he  should  fall  back 
toward  Rolla  until  reinforcements  should  meet  him."  The  same 
date  Lyon  replied:  *  *  *  "I  find  my  position  extremely 
embarrassing,  and  am  at  present  unable  to  determine  whether 
I  shall  be  able  to  maintain  my  ground  or  be  forced  to  retire. 
I  can  resist  any  attack  from  the  front,  but  if  the  enemy  moves 
to  surround  me,  I  shall  hold  my  ground  as  long  as  possible." 
*  *  *  Differences  of  opinion  existed  between  Lyon  and 

24 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

SCHOFIELD  over  the  question  which  they  had  been  discussing 
for  several  days,  namely :  "What  action  did  the  situation  require 
of  him  as  commander  of  that  Army?"  SCHOFIELD  favored 
that  the  Army  should  retire !  After  Lyon  had  decided  to  attack, 
not  a  word  passed  between  him  and  SCHOFIELD  on  the  question 
whether  the  attack  should  be  made,  except  the  question: 
"Is  Sigel  willing  to  undertake  this?"  and  Lyon's  answer: 
"Yes;  it  is  Sigel's  plan." 

The  night  of  August  9,  Lyon  was  not  hopeful.  SCHOFIELD 
encouraged  him  to  take  a  more  hopeful  view,  assuring  him  that 
the  troops  were  easily  rallied  and  were  gaining  confidence. 

By  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  of  August  10 — an  eventful  day — Sigel 
was  out  of  the  fight,  and  the  enemy  turned  his  whole  force  on 
Lyon.  Meantime  a  body  of  troops  was  seen  moving  down  the 
east  bank  of  the  creek,  towards  Lyon's  left,  and  SCHOFIELD 
deployed  eight  companies  of  the  First  Iowa  and  led  them  in 
person  to  repel  the  movement,  which  they  did  most  gallantly 
after  a  sanguinary  struggle.  Lyon,  with  an  aide  and  orderlies, 
followed  closely  the  right  of  the  Iowa  regiment,  and  the  aide 
protested  against  his  exposing  himself  to  the  fire  of  the  line; 
and  asked  if  he  should  not  bring  up  some  other  troops.  Lyon 
assented,  and  the  Second  Kansas  arriving,  he  joined  it  with  two 
companies  of  the  First  Iowa,  and,  leading  the  column,  moved 
forward  swinging  his  hat.  The  enemy  opened  a  murderous  fire, 
and  after  a  brilliant  charge  of  the  column — Lyon  at  its  head — 
which  drove  the  enemy,  Lyon  fell,  penetrated  by  a  ball  in  his 
left  breast,  and  expired  almost  instantly. 

The  engagement  is  considered  as  one  of  the  severest  of 
the  War.  "Never  before— considering  the  number  engaged — 

25 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

had  so  bloody  a  battle  been  fought  on  American  soil;  seldom 
has  a  bloodier  one  been  fought  on  any  modern  field."  The 
Union  force  was  5,400— with  16  guns;  the  Confederate  force 
10,175 — with  15  guns. 

SCHOFIELD  "was  conspicuously  gallant  in  leading  a  successful 
charge  against  the  enemy,"  for  which  he  received  the  Con 
gressional  Medal  of  Honor!  He  has  said:  "The  plan  of  battle 
was  determined  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  in  consultation 
between  General  L/yon  and  Colonel  Sigel,  no  other  officers  being 
present.  General  L/yon  said:  "It  is  Sigel's  plan,  yet  he  seemed 
to  have  no  hesitation  in  adopting  it,  notwithstanding  its  depart 
ure  from  accepted  principles,  having  great  confidence  in  Sigel's 
superior  military  ability  and  experience."  Arid  Sigel  has  ad 
mitted  the  weakness  of  "Sigel's  plan"  in  the  following  words: 
*  *  *  "It  will  be  seen  that  the  maneuver  of  outflanking  and 
'marching  into  the  enemy's  rear'  is  not  always  successful.  It 
was  not  so  at  Wilson's  Creek  when  we  had  approached,  unob 
served,  within  cannon  shot  of  the  enemy's  line;  however,  we 
were  only  5,400  (with  16  guns)  against  about  11,000  (with  15 
guns).  In  a  maneuver  of  that  kind,  the  venture  of  a  smaller 
army  to  surprise  and  'bag'  an  enemy  whose  forces  are  concen 
trated  and  who  holds  the  interior  lines,  or  inside  track,  will 
always  be  great,  unless  the  enemy's  troops  are  inferior  in 
quality,  or  otherwise  at  a  discount." 

The  force  engaged  at  Wilson's  Creek  arrived  at  Rolla  August 
19,  nine  days  after  the  battle,  and  the  Army  of  the  West 
disappeared  in  the  much  larger  army  which  General  Fremont 
was  then  organizing.  SCHOFIELD'S  duties,  as  Adjutant-General 
and  Chief  of  Staff,  ceased  August  1 3 ;  and  he  then  took  com- 

26 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

mand  of  his  regiment,  the  First  Missouri,  and,  with  it,  was 
ordered  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  regiment  was  changed  to  the 
artillery  arm.  During  that  reorganization  he  hastily  extem 
porized  a  battery  and  proceeded  with  it  to  Fredericktown,  to 
meet  a  Confederate  force  under  Jeff.  Thompson,  which  had 
interfered  with  the  communication  to  St.  Louis;  and  even  that 
city  was  in  danger.  The  engagement  was  sharp  and  resulted 
in  considerable  loss  on  both  sides;  but  the  Confederates  soon 
gave  way  and  retreated  in  disorder.  SCHOFIELD  then  left  the 
battery  with  the  Union  forces — about  3,000— and  returned  to 
resume  his  duties  at  St.  Louis,  where  November  19,  1861,  he 
was  appointed  by  the  President,  Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  Vol 
unteers.  He  then  reported  to  Major-General  Halleck,  com 
manding  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi,  who,  November 
27,  assigned  him  to  the  "command  of  all  the  militia  of  the 
State,"  and  charged  him  with  the  duty  of  raising,  organizing, 
and  equipping  the  force  which  had  been  authorized  by  the 
President.  His  official  report,  December  7,  1862,  to  the  Depart 
ment  Commander  and  General  in  Chief  (War  Records,  Vol. 
XIII,  p.  7)  gives  an  account  of  the  purely  military  operations  of 
that  period.  But  many  matters,  less  purely  military,  which 
entered  largely  into  the  history  of  that  time,  deserve  more  than  a 
passing  notice ;  and  we  have  SCHOFIELD'S  words :  ' '  During  the 
short  administration  of  General  Fremont  in  Missouri,  the  Union 
party  was  split  into  two  factions,  'radical'  and  'conservative,' 
hardly  less  bitter  in  their  hostility  to  each  other  than  to  the 
party  of  secession.  The  more  advanced  leaders  of  the  radicals 
held  that  secession  had  abolished  the  Constitution  and  all  law 
restraining  the  power  of  the  Government  over  the  people  of 

27 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

the  Confederate  States,  and  even  over  disloyal  citizens  of  States 
adhering  to  the  Union.  They  advocated  immediate  emanci 
pation  of  the  slaves,  and  confiscation,  by  military  authority,  of 
all  property  of  'rebels  and  rebel  sympathizers' — that  is  to  say,  of 
all  persons  not  of  the  radical  party,  for  in  their  partisan  heat, 
they  declined  to  make  any  distinction  between  'conservatives,' 
'copperheads/  and  'rebels.'" 

The  "Confiscation  Act"  of  July  17,  1862,  was  involved,  com 
plications  resulted,  and  the  instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
were  repudiated  by  the  President!  Serious  evil  existed.  The 
radical  theory  of  military  confiscation  had  been  carried  out  by 
General  Curtis,  as  Department  Commander,  for  some  months. 
SCHOFIELD,  as  his  successor,  put  a  stop  to  it!  There  was  an 
appeal  to  the  President  who  "directed  the  military  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  matter."  August  4,  1862,  feeling  was  so 
warm  that  a  committee  was  sent  to  Washington,  and  Halleck — 
then  the  General  in  Chief — on  August  10,  telegraphed  SCHO 
FIELD:  "There  is  a  committee  here  *  *  *  asking  your 
removal  on  account  of  inefficiency."  As  to  this  SCHOFIELD 
said:  "I  have  never  had  the  curiosity  to  attempt  to  ascertain 
how  far  the  meeting  of  August  4,  was  hostile  to  me  personally. ' ' 

Subsequent  to  the  departure  of  General  Halleck  for  Wash 
ington,  July  23,  1862,  there  appears  to  have  been  a  contest,  in 
Washington,  between  the  political  and  military  influence,  rela 
tive  to  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  the  Department  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  result  was  its  division;  and  General  Curtis 
was  assigned  to  command  the  new  Department  of  the  Missouri 
composed  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  For 
some  months  the  radicals  controlled,  and  military  confiscation 

28 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

was  without  hindrance.  When  the  change  occurred,  SCHOFIELD 
was  in  the  field,  in  command  of  the  forces  assembled  for  aggres 
sive  operations,  and  designated  as  the  Army  of  the  Frontier. 
November  20,  1862,  sickness  compelled  him  to  relinquish  that 
command  which  he  resumed  December  20.  The  Battle  of 
Prairie  Grove  had  been  fought  December  7,  resulting  in  the 
defeat  of  the  enemy.  It  was  evident  that  the  campaign,  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  was  ended,  and  SCHOFIELD  took  it  for 
granted  that  the  large  force — nearly  16,000  men — was  not  to 
remain  idle  while  Grant,  or  some  other  commander,  was  trying 
to  open  the  Mississippi  River.  Accordingly  he  reorganized  his 
command  to  hold  the  country  we  had  gained,  and,  with  three 
good  divisions,  to  prosecute  such  operations  as  might  be  deter 
mined  on.  He  at  once  commenced  the  march  north  and  east 
toward  the  theater  of  active  operations.  In  the  divisional 
reorganization  it  was  suggested  that  one  of  the  division  com 
manders  should  be  relieved  and  assigned  to  the  District  of 
Kansas,  where  he  had  been  permitted  to  go  to  look  after  his 
personal  interests.  That  confidential  suggestion  was  betrayed, 
and  became  known  to  Senator  Lane  of  Kansas,  and  other  polit 
ical  friends  of  the  division  commander  contemplated  for  the 
district  command.  "The  result  of  this,  and  radical  influence  in 
general,"  was  that  SCHOFIELD'S  nomination,  as  Major-General 
of  Volunteers,  then  pending  in  the  Senate,  was  not  confirmed, 
while  two  juniors,  of  SCHOFIELD'S  command,  were  confirmed  in 
that  grade  of  Major-General!  Subsequently  SCHOFIELD  had 
an  interview  with  Lane,  and  made  a  note  of  it :  '  'Went  over  the 
whole  ground  of  his  hostility  to  General  S.  during  the  past  year. 
Showed  him  the  injustice  that  he  had  done  to  General  S.  and 

29 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

how  foolish  and  unprofitable  to  himself  his  hostility  had  been. 
He  stated  with  apparent  candor  that  he  had  bent  the  whole 
energies  of  his  soul  to  the  destruction  of  General  S. ;  had  never 
labored  harder  to  accomplish  any  object  of  his  life.  Said  he 
had  been  evidently  mistaken  in  the  character  and  principles  of 
General  S.  and  that  no  man  was  more  ready  than  he  to  atone 
for  a  fault." 

After  the  Battle  of  Prairie  Grove,  SCHOFIELD  asked  the  Com 
manding  General  of  the  Department  to  let  him  join  the  Vicks- 
burg  expedition,  but  the  request  was  not  granted — for  the 
reason  that  he  was  wanted  to  command  the  Army  of  the  Fron 
tier.  As  a  result  SCHOFIELD  said,  very  properly:  "The  situa 
tion  seemed  to  me  really  unendurable !  I  was  compelled  to  lie 
at  Springfield  all  the  latter  part  of  winter,  with  a  well-appointed 
Army  Corps  eager  for  active  service,  hundreds  of  miles  from  any 
hostile  force,  and  where  we  were  compelled  to  haul  our  own 
supplies,  in  wagons,  over  the  worst  of  roads,  1 20  miles  from  the 
railroad  terminus  at  Rolla.  I  could  not  get  permission  even  to 
move  nearer  the  railroad,  much  less  toward  the  line  on  which 
the  next  advance  must  be  made;  and  this  while  the  whole 
country  was  looking,  with  intense  anxiety,  for  the  movement 
that  was  to  open  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf,  and  the  Govern 
ment  was  straining  every  nerve  to  make  that  movement  suc 
cessful.  Hence  I  wrote  General  Halleck,  January  31,  1863,  and 
February  3.  *  *  *  The  whole  correspondence  may  be 
found  in  War  Records,  Vol.  XXII,  part  ii.  In  my  letter  Jan 
uary  31,1  said :  'Pardon  me  for  suggesting  that  the  forces  under 
Davidson,  Warren  and  myself  might  be  made  available  in  the 
opening  of  the  Mississippi,  should  that  result  not  be  accom 
plished  quickly.'  *  *  * 

3° 


JOHN    MCALWSTER   SCHOKIELD. 

"The  immediate  result  of  this  correspondence  was  that  some 
troops  were  sent  down  the  river,  but  none  of  my  command, 
while  two  divisions  of  the  latter  were  ordered  to  the  East.  This 
inarch  was  in  progress  when  Congress  adjourned.  The  Senate 
not  having  confirmed  my  appointment  as  Major-General,  the 
time  of  my  temporary  humiliation  arrived.  But  I  had  not 
relied  wholly  in  vain  upon  General  Halleck's  personal  knowledge 
of  my  character.  He  had  not  been  fully  able  to  sustain  me 
against  selfish  intrigue  in  Kansas,  Missouri,  and  Washington; 
but  he  could,  and  did,  promptly  respond  to  my  request,  and 
ordered  me  to  Tennessee,  where  I  could  be  associated  with 
soldiers  who  were  capable  of  appreciating  my  soldierly  quali 
ties.  One  of  the  happiest  days  of  my  life  was  when  I  reported 
to  Rosecrans  and  Thomas  at  Murfresboro,  received  their  cordial 
welcome,  and  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  Thomas'  own 
old  division  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps.  One  of  the  most  agree 
able  parts  of  my  whole  military  service  was  the  thirty  days  in 
command  of  that  division  at  Triune,  and  some  of  my  most 
valued  attachments  were  formed  there.  But  that  happy  period 
of  soldier  life  was  brief.  Early  in  May  President  Lincoln  re- 
appointed  me  Major-General,  with  original  date,  November  29, 
1862,  and  ordered  me  back  to  the  old  scene  of  unsoldierly  strife 
and  turmoil,  in  Missouri  and  Kansas." 

May  24,  1863,  SCHOFIELD  relieved  General  Curtis  in  com 
mand  of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri.  In  his  instructions 
of  May  22,  Halleck  said:  "You  owe  your  present  appointment 
entirely  to  the  choice  of  the  President  himself.  *  *  *  But 
I  fully  concur  in  the  choice,  and  will  give  you  all  possible  sup 
port  and  assistance  in  the  performance  of  the  arduous  duties 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

imposed  upon  you."  President  Lincoln,  May  27,  wrote:  "Hav 
ing  relieved  General  Curtis  and  assigned  you  to  the  command 
of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  I  think  it  may  be  of  some 
advantage  for  me  to  state  to  you  why  I  did  it. 

"I  did  not  relieve  General  Curtis  because  of  any  full  convic 
tion  that  he  had  done  wrong  by  commission  or  omission.  I 
did  it  because  of  a  conviction  in  my  mind  that  the  Union  men 
of  Missouri,  constituting,  when  united,  a  vast  majority  of  the 
whole  people,  have  entered  into  a  pestilent  factional  quarrel 
among  themselves,  General  Curtis,  perhaps  not  of  choice,  being 
the  head  of  one  faction,  and  Governor  Gamble  that  of  the 
other.  After  months  of  labor  to  reconcile  the  difficulty,  it 
seemed  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  until  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
break  it  up  somehow;  and  as  I  could  not  remove  Governor 
Gamble,  I  had  to  remove  General  Curtis. 

"Now  that  you  are  in  the  position,  I  wish  you  to  undo  noth 
ing  merely  because  General  Curtis  or  Governor  Gamble  did 
it,  but  to  exercise  your  own  judgment  and  do  right  for  the  public 
interest. 

"Let  your  military  measures  be  strong  enough  to  repel  the 
invader  and  keep  the  peace,  and  not  so  strong  as  to  unneces 
sarily  harass  and  persecute  the  people.  It  is  a  difficult  role, 
and  so  much  greater  the  honor  if  you  perform  it  well.  If  both 
factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse  you,  you  will  probably  be 
about  right.  Beware  of  being  assailed  by  one  and  praised  by 
the  other." 

SCHOFIELD'S  view  dictated  to  him  but  one  course  as  to  the 
military  situation — to  send  all  available  force  to  assist  in 
the  capture  of  Vicksburg  and  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi 

32 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

to  the  Gulf.  After  that  he  could  operate  from  points  on  the 
Mississippi  as  a  base,  capture  Little  Rock  and  the  line  of  the 
Arkansas,  and  then  make  that  river  the  base  of  future  opera 
tions.  Accordingly  he  sent  to  Grant  and  other  commanders 
all  the  troops  he  could  possibly  spare,  saying  that  it  would 
leave  him  weak,  but  that  he  was  "willing  to  risk  it  in  view 
of  the  vast  importance  of  Grant's  success."  His  loan  of  troops 
to  Grant  was  returned  with  interest,  as  soon  as  practicable 
after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg;  and  he  was  then  able  to  advance 
a  large  force  for  the  capture  of  Little  Rock,  resulting  in  holding 
the  entire  Arkansas  River  line  from  that  time  forward. 
.  Grant  was  touched  deeply  by  SCHOFIELD'S  action;  and 
ever  afterward  manifested  to  SCHOFIELD  his  kind  and  generous 
confidence.  SCHOFIELD  coupled  that  manifestation  with  like 
manifestations  of  approval  from  President  Lincoln,  and  viewed 
them  as  "the  most  cherished  recollections  of  his  official  career." 
President  Lincoln  said:  "Few  things  have  been  so  grateful  to 
my  anxious  feelings,  as  when,  in  June  last,  the  local  force  in 
Missouri  aided  General  SCHOFIELD  to  so  promptly  send  a  large 
general  force  to  the  relief  of  General  Grant,  then  investing 
Vicksburg  and  menaced  from  without  by  General  Johnston." 

That  communication  was  to  the  Hon.  Charles  S.  Drake 
and  others,  a  committee,  then  demanding  SCHOFIELD'S  removal ; 
and  President  Lin  cold  added:  *  *  *  "Without  disparaging 
any,  I  affirm  with  confidence  that  no  commander  of  that  Depart 
ment  has,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  done  better  than  SCHO 
FIELD."  After  the  radical  committee  had  returned  from 
Washington,  SCHOFIELD,  October  13,  wrote  in  his  journal: 
"The  radical  delegation  *  *  *  very  much  crest-fallen, 

33 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  they  have  accomplished 
nothing."  *  *  * 

"Senator  Lane  spoke  at  Turner's  Hall  last  evening;  *  *  * 
was  silent  on  the  subject  of  the  Department  Commander.  He 
informed  me  yesterday  *  *  *  that  he  had  stopped  the 
war  upon  me,  and  intended  hereafter  not  to  oppose  me  unless 
circumstances  rendered  it  necessary.  Said  that  the  President 
told  him  that  whoever  made  war  on  General  SCHOFIELD,  under 
the  present  state  of  affairs,  made  war  on  him — the  President. 
Said  he  had  never  made  war  on  General  S.  'except  incidentally.' ' 

As  to  an  attempt  to  obtain,  from  SCHOFIELD,  some  expres 
sion  of  partisan  preference,  between  the  "pestilent  factions," 
SCHOFIELD  stated  his  position :  "My  dealing  is  with  individuals, 
not  with  parties.  Officially  I  know  nothing  of  radicals  or  con 
servatives.  The  question  with  me  is  simply  what  individuals 
obey  the  laws,  and  what  violate  them;  who  are  for  the  Govern 
ment  and  who  against  it?  The  measures  of  the  President 
are  my  measures;  his  orders  my  rule  of  action.  Whether 
a  particular  party  gains  strength  or  loses  it  by  my  action,  must 
depend  upon  the  party,  and  not  on  me." 

In  December,  1863,  SCHOFIELD  received  a  summons  from 
the  President  to  come  to  Washington.  At  the  time,  he  felt 
that  his  administration  had  been  fully  vindicated.  He  was 
satisfied  of  some  impending  change,  and  cared  not  how  soon 
it  might  come.  His  toilsome  command,  with  its  political  com 
plications,  was  not  at  all  to  his  taste ;  and  it  was  with  pleasure 
that  he  received  the  President's  summons.  He  suspected  that 
it  resulted  from  continued  erroneous  representations  to  the 
President  as  to  his  views  involving  a  union  of  the  Missouri 

34 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

radicals  and  conservatives.  Upon  his  first  visit  to  the  Presi 
dent,  the  latter  repeated  the  erroneous  representation  with 
out  intimating  that  he  attached  much  weight  to  it.  SCHOFIELD 
at  once  replied  by  giving  simple  facts,  and  stated  his  true  posi 
tion  on  the  question.  The  President  promptly  dismissed  the 
subject  saying:  "I  believe  you,  SCHOFIELD;  these  fellows 
have  been  lying  to  me  again.'1  Previously  to  this  some  Mis 
souri  men  had  stated  to  the  President  their  views  as  to  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  that  State.  The  President  listened,  and 
then  took  from  his  desk  a  letter  from  SCHOFIELD,  read  it  to  them, 
and  then  said:  "That  is  the  truth  about  the  matter;  you 
fellows  are  lying  to  me!" 

SCHOFIELD  remained  some  time  in  Washington,  and  had  full 
conversations  with  the  President  on  public  affairs— frankly 
told  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  reconcile  certain  differ 
ences — indeed  that  he  did  not  believe  that  any  general  in  the 
army  could,  as  Department  Commander,  satisfy  the  Union 
people  of  both  Kansas  and  Missouri ;  neither  the  man,  nor  the 
policy,  that  would  suit  the  one  would  be  at  all  satisfactory  to 
the  other.  Accordingly,  the  President  soon  determined  to 
divide  the  old  Department  of  the  Missouri  into  three  Depart 
ments,  and  try  to  assign  to  each  a  commander  suited  to  its 
peculiarities.  But,  he  declared  decidedly  to  SCHOFIELD— and 
to  his  friends  in  the  Senate — that  he  would  make  no  change 
until  the  Senate  united  with  him  in  vindicating  SCHOFIELD,  by 
confirming  his  nomination  as  Major-General,  then  in  the  hands 
of  the  Senate  Military  Committee ;  and  that  then  he  would 
give  SCHOFIELD  a  more  important  command! 

Within  a  month  General  Grant,  then  commanding  the  Mili- 

35 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

tary  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  telegraphed  that,  due  to  ill- 
health  of  the  commander  of  the  Department  and  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  it  would  be  necessary  to  appoint  a  successor;  and  that 
he  desired  either  McPherson  or  SCHOFIELD.  General  Halleck 
handed  General  Grant's  despatch  to  SCHOFIELD  and  asked  him 
how  he  "would  like  that."  SCHOFIELD  replied:  "That  is 
exactly  what  I  want;  nothing  in  the  world  could  be  better." 
Halleck  then  told  SCHOFIELD  to  take  the  despatch  to  the  Presi 
dent;  and  SCHOFIELD  in  handing  it  to  the  President,  said: 
"If  you  want  to  give  me  that,  I  will  take  all  the  chances  of  the 
future,  whether  in  the  Senate  or  elsewhere."  The  President 
replied:  "Why,  SCHOFIELD,  that  cuts  the  knot,  don't  it?  Tell 
Halleck  to  come  over  here  and  we  will  fix  it  right  away." 
SCHOFIELD  started  at  once  for  St.  L/ouis,  to  turn  over  his  com 
mand  and  proceed  to  his  new  field  of  duty.  He  left  his  old 
command  "without  regret,  and  with  buoyant  hopes  of  satis 
factory  service  in  a  purely  military  field."  Crowned  with  pre 
eminence — as  soldier,  statesman,  patriot — he  had  yielded  his 
toilsome  command  and  its  political  complications.  Thrice 
favored  was  he  by  the  justness  of  his  cause.  His  enemies  said: 
"Thrice,  noble  lord,  let  me  entreat  of  you  to  pardon  me!" 

On  February  8,  1864,  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  he  assumed 
his  new  command.  The  troops  about  Knoxville  were:  The 
Ninth  Corps;  two  divisions  of  the  Twenty-third ;  about  r,ooo 
cavalry;  and  two  divisions  of  the  Fourth  Corps.  Due  to 
contingencies  of  the  service,  some  of  the  organizations  were 
reduced  to  skeletons.  Of  about  30,000  animals,  with  which 
General  Burnside  had  gone  into  East  Tennessee,  scarcely  1,000 
remained ;  while  his  army  of  25,000  men  had  been  reduced  to 

36 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

not  more  than  7,000  fit  for  effective  service  in  the  field.  Such 
was  the  result  of  the  siege  of  Knoxville ;  and  such  the  Army 
of  the  Ohio  when  SCHOFIELD  became  its  commander.  The 
miserable  condition  of  the  troops,  the  season  of  the  year,  lack 
of  transportation  for  supplies  and  of  a  pontoon  bridge  to  cross 
the  river,  rendered  any  considerable  movement  impossible. 
But  apprehension  existed  and  SCHOFIELD  determined  to  assume 
the  defensive,  and  maintain  it,  as  far  as  practicable.  He  acted 
accordingly,  and  L/ongstreet's  opposing  forces  withdrew  across 
the  Holston  and  French  Broad,  and  retreated  toward  Morris- 
town.  Subsequently  they  leisurely  withdrew  from  Tennessee 
and  joined  Lee  in  Virginia. 

On  April  7,  1864,  Senator  J.  B.  Henderson,  by  letter,  informed 
SCHOFIELD  that  the  Military  Committee  of  the  Senate  had 
reported  against  his  confirmation  as  Major-General !  His 
enemies  had  not  been  silenced,  notwithstanding  his  approval 
and  support  by  the  President,  the  Secretary- of -War,  General 
Halleck,  General  Grant  and  General  Sherman.  It  was  in  con 
nection  with  their  support  and  approval  that  SCHOFIELD  said : 
"I  am  willing  to  abide  the  decision  of  any  one  or  all  of  them, 
and  I  would  not  give  a  copper  for  the  weight  of  anybody's  or 
everybody's  opinion  in  addition  to,  or  in  opposition  to,  theirs." 
*  *  *  "Grant  was  here  m  the  winter,  and  Sherman  only 
a  few  days  ago.  They  are  fully  acquainted  with  the  condition 
of  affairs.  I  have  been  acting  all  the  time  under  their  instruc 
tions."  *  *  *  It  was  during  Sherman's  visit  that  he  dis 
closed  his  plans  to  SCHOFIELD  for  the  coming  campaign,  and 
the  part  SCHOFIELD  was  expected  to  take  in  it.  The  latter 
has  said:  "It  would  be  difficult  to  give  an  adequate  concep- 

37 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

tion  of  the  feeling  of  eager  expectation  and  enthusiasm  with 
which,  having  given  (through  his  reply  of  April  15,  1864,  to 
Senator  Henderson's  letter  of  April  7)  my  final  'salutation'  to 
my  friends  in  the  Senate,  I  entered  upon  the  preparation  for 
this  campaign.  Of  its  possible  results  to  the  country  there 
was  room  in  my  mind  only  for  confidence.  But,  for  myself, 
it  was  to  decide  my  fate,  and  that  speedily.  My  reputation 
and  my  rank  as  a  soldier — so  long  held  in  the  political  bal 
ance — were  at  length  to  be  settled.  The  long-hoped-for  oppor 
tunity  had  come,  and  that  under  a  general  whose  character 
and  ability  were  already  established,  and  of  the  justice  of 
whose  judgment  and  action,  regarding  his  subordinates,  there 
could  be  no  reason  for  doubt  in  my  mind.  My  command  was 
to  be  mostly  of  veteran  troops,  and  not  too  large  for  my 
experience.  Its  comparative  smallness  was  a  source  of  satis 
faction  to  me  at  that  time,  rather  than  anything  like  jealousy 
of  my  senior  brother  commanders  of  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee." 

His  first  care  was  to  provide  his  troops  with  all  necessary 
equipments,  and  to  fill  up  the  ranks.  "It  was  a  refreshing 
sight  to  see  the  changed  aspect  of  the  gallant  little  army  as  it 
marched  with  full  ranks,  and  complete  equipment,  newly  clad, 
from  Knoxville  toward  Dalton."  He  quickly  won  the  con 
fidence  of  his  men,  and  the  Twenty-third  Corps  confided  in 
him,  as  he  did  in  them.  An  old  soldier  was  heard  to  say,  as 
SCHOFIELD  passed  his  regiment  when  it  was  under  fire:  "// 
is  all  right,  boys;  I  like  the  way  the  old  man  chaws  his  tobacco!" 
About  the  close  of  the  Atlanta  campaign,  Sherman  said:  "The 
Twenty-third  Corps  never  failed  to  do  all  that  was  expected  of 
it.  *  *  *  Where  he  [SCHOFIELD]  was,  there  was  security!" 

38 


JOHN    MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

The  Twenty-third  Corps  and  Army  of  the  Ohio,  under  SCHO 
FIELD,  was  engaged  in  action  at  Buzzard's  Roost;  Resaca; 
Dalton;  Lost  Mountain — numerous  severe  engagements; 
Kulp's  Farm ;  Kenesaw  Mountain ;  passage  of  the  Chattahoo- 
chee ;  operations  in  front  of  Atlanta,  and  the  battle  and  siege  of 
that  place.  To  take  up  the  movements  of  the  campaign  would 
be  beyond  the  sphere  of  this  paper;  but  I  may  say  that  SCHO- 
FIELD  did  not  agree  with  Sherman  in  all  parts  of  his  grand  tac 
tics  and  strategy.  The  fact  was  developed  as  the  two  discussed 
their  battles.  Nevertheless,  Sherman  was  deeply  impressed 
with  SCHOFIELD'S  views,  and  at  the  close  of  the  Atlanta  Cam 
paign  requested  SCHOFIELD  to  "write  a  full  critical  history 
of  the  campaign,  as  a  text-book  for  military  students.  SCHO 
FIELD  hoped,  as  a  labor  of  love,  if  for  no  other  reason,  to  present 
his  impressions  "of  those  grand  tactical  evolutions  of  a  com 
pact  army  of  100,000  men,"  as  he  witnessed  them,  "with  the 
intense  interest  of  a  young  commander,  and  student  of  the 
great  art  which  has  so  often  in  the  history  of  the  world  deter 
mined  the  destinies  of  nations."  He  expressed  the  view  that: 
"Sherman's  campaigns  stand  alone,  without  parallel  in  military 
history;  alike  unique  in  their  conception,  execution,  and  final 
results;  in  most  respects  among  the  highest  examples  in  the 
Art  of  War.  Plans  so  general  and  original,  in  conception 
and  successful  execution,  point  to  a  very  high  order  of  genius." 

Here  I  may  refer  to  some  incidents : 

The  class-ring  of  1853  bears  the  motto:  "We  separate  for 
service."  Little  did  the  class  realize  what  the  service  would 
be !  The  impenetrable  curtain  of  their  mortal  lives  hung  before 
them — they  were  simply  "little  boats"  about  to  pass  down 

39 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

life's  turbulent  stream.  After  a  few  years  they  touched  the 
curtain;  it  lifted  slightly,  and,  during  the  Atlanta  Campaign, 
James  B .  McPherson,  Army  of  the  Tennessee ;  JOHN  M.  SCHO 
FIELD,  Army  of  the  Ohio — on  the  Union  side  under  General 
Sherman;  and  John  B.  Hood  with  his  forces,  under  General 
Johnston,  on  the  Confederate  side,  viewed  the-  Union  and 
Confederate  Armies  in  heroic  strife,  fraught  with  momentous 
results.  The  three  classmates  had  in  time  of  peace  prepared 
for  war,  and  resultingly,  distinction  crowned  all  of  them  as 
commanders  of  great  armies.  They  were  not  longer  to  be 
classed  as  "little  boats!"  Through  conjunction  and  evolution 
they  stood  in  view  as  aggressive  forces  of  striking  note, 
intellectually  and  physically.  The  example  should  stimulate 
all  youthful  officers! 

McPherson  and  SCHOFIELD  had  discussed  the  chance  of  battle, 
in  connection  with  Hood's  general  character,  and  agreed  that 
they  ought  to  be  unusually  cautious  and  prepared,  at  all  times, 
for  rallies  and  hard  fighting,  thus  to  meet  Hood  who  was  "a 
brave,  determined  and  rash  man."  They  remembered  that  at 
Gilgal  Church,  abreast  of  Pine  Top,  McPherson  had  overlapped 
Hood  and  captured  the  entire  4th  Alabama  regiment ;  and  that 
thereafter  Hood  left  the  front  of  McPherson,  and,  after  a  forced 
night's  march,  appeared  on  the  other  flank  at  Kulp's  Farm, 
facing  SCHOFIELD;  and  there,  with  his  known  method  of 
charging  and  fighting,  delivered,  most  intelligently,  a  desperate 
attack.  » 

The  Confederates  fell  back  before  Sherman's  armies — 
100,000  men  and  23,000  animals — until  Atlanta  was  in  sight; 
and  the  Union  forces  were  soon  confronted  from  behind  the 

40 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Confederate  first  line  of  intrenchments,  at  Peach  Tree  Creek. 
July  1 8,  1864,  General  Johnston  was  relieved,  by  L/ieu tenant- 
General  Hood,  from  command  of  the  entire  Confederate  force. 
The  evening  of  that  day  the  armies  of  McPherson  and  SCHOFIELD 
were  destroying  the  Georgia  railroad,  between  Stone  Mountain 
and  Decatur.  The  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Thomas,  was 
hastening  to  cross  Peach  Tree  Creek,  within  six  miles  of  Atlanta. 
The  night  of  the  i8th  and  morning  of  the  igth,  Hood  formed 
line  of  battle  facing  Peach  Tree  Creek — the  night  of  the  iSth 
McPherson  and  SCHOFIELD  were  well  over  that  stream,  and  on 
the  railroad  near  Decatur,  when  Hood  issued  orders  looking 
to  the  isolation  of  their  forces  from  those  of  Thomas,  thus  to 
crush  the  latter. 

The  situation  was  such  that  McPherson  and  SCHOFIELD 
could  not  assist  Thomas  without  crossing  Peach  Tree,  and  a 
long  detour  to  reach  that  stream.  McPherson  and  SCHOFIELD 
were  thus  checked.  The  position  of  the  Union  forces  remained 
during  July  2  ist  unchanged,  save  a  slight  advance  by  McPherson 
and  SCHOFIELD  toward  Atlanta.  The  morning  of  the  22d,  they 
were  still  separated  from  Thomas,  and  Hood  had  planned  to 
turn  McPherson's  left;  but  the  attempt  failed.  The  attack 
was  sudden,  while  McPherson  was  with  Sherman  at  the  Howard 
House.  McPherson  immediately  galloped  toward  the  firing 
line,  and,  after  issuing  orders,  rode  through  a  thick  forest 
interval,  there  to  find  the  Confederates  under  Hardee  fast 
approaching,  and  a  call  from  the  advance  to  surrender.  He 
turned  his  horse,  was  instantly  shot  and  fell  to  the  ground. 
One  of  his  orderlies  escaped  to  convey  the  sad  news.  When 
the  body  reached  the  Howard  House  all  felt  the  loss  as  irre- 

41 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

reparable.  Sherman  remarked  that  the  entire  Confederacy 
could  not  atone  for  one  such  life ! 

Profoundly  deep  as  was  the  grief  of  Sherman,  it  could  not 
equal  the  anguish  that  welled  from  SCHOFIELD'S  noble  and 
sympathetic  heart! 

George  H.  Thomas — Cavalry  and  Artillery  Instructor  of 
McPherson,  SCHOFIELD  and  Hood  at  West  Point — and  SCHO- 
FIELD  were  again  to  contend  with  Hood  in  Tennessee,  particu 
larly  in  the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville.  There  the 
impenetrable  curtain  continued  to  rise!  The  mortal  shape 
of  McPherson  had  passed  to  immortality,  and,  as  we  trust,  to 
be  endowed  with  ' '  the  greatness  and  strangeness  of  the  Beatific 
Vision!" 

My  intimacy  with  McPherson  and  SCHOFIELD  warrants  the 
enunciation  that  when  they  met,  during  the  Atlanta  Campaign, 
their  thoughts  were  not  removed  from  surrounding  danger,  and 
went  forth  to  the  exalted  Commander  of  the  Universe,  to  whom 
they  promised:  "Not  to  count  the  cost,  to  fight  and  not  to 
heed  the  wounds,  to  toil  and  not  to  seek  for  rest,  to  labor  with 
the  holy  joy  of  knowing  that  we  ever  do  His  ever  blessed  will;" 
and  that  one  day  He  would  be  their  exceeding  great  reward ! 
They  were  constantly  at  work,  similarly  to  the  weaver  at  his 
loom.  They  ever  remembered  the  brittleness  of  Life's  thread, 
and  that  the  "living  shuttle  in  the  loom  of  time"  was  ever 
going  and  the  woof  was  ever  growing.  I  may  associate  their 
thoughts  going  forth  through  the  words: 

42 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFlELD. 

"Lord,  let  me  know  them  carefully  each  day, 

The  spools  on  which  the  fragile  thread  is  wound, 
The  thread  of  life,  nor  let  me  with  it  play — 

A  broken  strand  not  easily  is  bound. 
And  I  would  rightly  blend,     *     *     * 

For,  as  I  weave,  so  must  my  life  be  crowned. 
Lord,  let  me  throw  them  true,  day  after  day, 

The  shuttles  round  which  life's  frail  threads  are  wound." 

They  had  remembered  their  "Bible  class"  at  West  Point,  and 
profited  by  the  inculcation  received  from  the  Chaplain  and 
Professor  of  Ethics — fixed  in  memory  by  the  inscription  which 
had  so  often  met  their  eyes  over  the  Cadet  Chapel  chancel: 
"Righteousness  exalte th  a  Nation.  But  Sin  is  a  reproach 
to  any  people." 

They  had  remembered  the  rules  for  moral  conduct  and 
ignored  self-love.  "When  conscience  speaks,  the  voice  of 
self-love  must  be  silent!"  After  an  action  was  performed, 
they  conformed  to  self-examination,  and  realized  that : 

"  'Tis  greatly  wise,  to  talk  with  our  past  hours, 
And  ask  them  what  report  they  bore  to  Heaven ; 
And  how  they  might  have  borne  more  welcome  news." 

Thus  the  sensibility  of  conscience  was  increased  as  a  source 
of  pleasure  or  of  pain — strengthened  by  use,  and  weakened 
by  disuse ! 

"Love  thyself  last.     Cherish  the  heart  that  hates  thee. 

*     *     *     Be  just  and  fear  not: 
Let  all  the  ends  thou  aim'st  at  be  thy  Country's, 
Thy  God's,  and  Truth's;  then,  if  thou  fall'st     *     *     * 
Thou  fall'st  a  blessed  Martyr." 

43 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

In  Ethics-— Science  of  Moral  Law— McPherson  and  SCHO- 
graduated  very  high;  numbers  3  and  7,  respectively,  in 
a  class  of  52  members.  From  their  studies  they  well  learned 
that  the  greatest  happiness  of  which  man  is  in  his  present  state 
capable,  must  be  attained  by  conforming  his  whole  conduct  to 
the  laws  of  virtue ;  that  is  the  will  of  God. 

After  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  and  while  Sherman's  army 
was  resting,  General  Hood  with  his  army  took  the  initiative, 
and,  by  moving  around  Sherman's  right,  struck  his  railroad 
about  Altooria,  and  toward  Chattanooga — thence  to  march 
westward  with  design  of  changing  the  theater  of  war,  from 
Georgia,  to  Alabama,  Mississippi,  or  Tennessee.  In  connection 
with  Atlanta,  Sherman  said :  ' '  But  I  had  not  accomplished 
all,  for  Hood's  army,  the  chief  objective,  had  escaped!" 

An  essential  modification  of  the  original  plan,  to  meet  the 
unexpected  movement  of  Hood,  was  to  send  back  into  Tennessee 
force  enough,  in  addition  to  the  troops  then  there,  and  others 
to  be  assembled  from  the  rear,  to  cope  with  Hood  in  the  event 
of  his  attempting  the  invasion  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky, 
or  to  pursue  and  occupy  his  attention  should  he  attempt  to 
follow  Sherman.  General  George  H.  Thomas,  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  Cumberland,  and  already  at  the  Nash 
ville  headquarters,  was  directed  by  Sherman  to  assume  com 
mand  of  all  the  troops  in  the  three  departments  under  Sherman's 
command,  except  those  with  the  latter  in  Georgia,  and  to 
direct  the  operations  against  Hood.  Stanley,  with  his  Fourth 
Corps,  started  by  rail  to  Tullahoma,  and  was  to  march,  as  he 
diverged  from  the  latter  point,  to  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  the  point 
selected  for  the  concentration  of  the  forces  of  Thomas. 

44 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

The  foregoing  was  the  situation  when  SCHOFIELD  returned 
from  an  absence  involving  the  business  of  his  department — 
and  reported  to  Sherman,  near  the  end  of  October.  At  that 
interview  SCHOFIELD  told  Sherman  that  the  force  for  Thomas 
was  much  too  small;  that  Hood  evidently  intended  to  invade 
Tennessee ;  and  that  he  would  not  be  diverted  from  his  purpose 
bv  Sherman's  march  in  the  opposite  direction,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  be  encouraged  thereby  to  pursue  his  own  plan. 
Hence  SCHOFIELD  requested  Sherman  to  send  him  back  with 
the  Twenty-third  Corps  to  join  Thomas.  Sherman  replied  that 
he  must  have  three  grand  divisions — one  to  be  commanded  by 
SCHOFIELD — to  make  his  army,  and  that  he  could  not  spare 
SCHOFIELD.  After  SCHOFIELD  left  Sherman  that  afternoon, 
he  wrote  to  him  giving  a  special  reason  why  his  corps,  rather 
than  any  other,  should  be  sent  back  to  Tennessee.  No  answer 
came  to  his  suggestions  until  SCHOFIELD  had  made  three  days' 
march,  en  route  to  Atlanta — thence  for  Savannah.  There  he 
received  an  order,  October  30,  to  march  to  the  nearest  rail- 
point  and  report  by  telegraph  to  Thomas  for  orders.  Novem 
ber  3,  Thomas  ordered  him  to  come  at  once,  by  rail,  to  Nashville, 
with  his  corps,  where  he  reported  with  the  advance  of  his  troops 
on  November  5.  He  was  then  ordered,  with  part  of  his  force,  to 
Johnsonville  on  the  Tennessee  River,  where  Forest  with  his 
cavalry  had  appeared  and  destroyed  much  property,  Thomas 
not  having  a  sufficient  available  force  to  oppose  him.  SCHO- 
FIELD'S  duty  at  Johnsonville,  where  he  left  two  brigades,  was 
soon  ended.  Then  he  returned  to  Nashville,  and  moved  at 
once,  by  rail  to  Pulaski,  arriving  at  that  place  the  evening  of 
November  12.  The  situation,  in  SCHOFIELD'S  words,  was  as 

45 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

follows:  *  *  *  "I  had  been  with  the  entire  Twenty-third 
Corps  to  Nashville,  with  part  of  it  to  Johnsonville  and  back  to 
Nashville,  and  thence  to  Columbia,  near  Pulaski,  all  by  rail; 
that  all  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  then  in  Tennessee  was 
the  Fourth  Corps,  and  the  cavalry  at  and  near  Pulaski;  that 
General  Thomas  placed  those  troops  under  my  command,  and 
that  they  remained  so  until  after  the  battle  of  Franklin,  Novem 
ber  30, and  the  retreat  to  Nashville  that  night;  and  that  General 
Thomas  did  not  have  any  army  at  Nashville  until  December  i . 
I  had  united  with  Thomas's  troops  two  weeks  before  the  battle 
of  Franklin,  and  was  commanding  his  army  in  the  field,  as  well 
as  my  own,  during  that  time."  He  had  assumed  the  command, 
as  referred  to,  November  14.  November  20,  he  telegraphed 
Thomas  pointing  out  the  faulty  nature  of  the  position  selected 
by  Thomas  at  Pulaski,  and  the  danger  that  must  be  incurred 
in  attempting  to  carry  out  his  instructions  to  fight  Hood  at 
that  place.  Thomas  very  promptly  approved  SCHOFIELD'S 
suggestion,  and  thus  ended  the  embarrassment. 

The  enemy  advanced  November  21,  and  Union  troops  were 
interposed  between  the  enemy's  cavalry  and  Columbia.  Stan 
ley,  with  two  divisions  of  the  Fourth  Corps,  marched  from 
Pulaski  to  Columbia,  and  the  Union  cavalry  moved  on  the 
enemy's  right  to  cover  the  turnpike  and  railroad.  The  whole 
army  was  in  position  at  Columbia  November  24,  and  began 
to  intrench.  Hood's  infantry  did  not  come  in  sight  until  the 
26th.  The  intrenched  position  in  front  of  Columbia  was  held 
until  the  evening  of  November  27,  inviting  an  attack,  and 
hoping  that  Thomas  would  arrive  with  reinforcements  in  time 
to  assume  the  offensive  from  Columbia;  reinforcements  did 

46 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

not  arrive,  and  the  enemy  did  not  attack.  It  became  evident 
that  Hood  would  not  attack  that  position,  but  turn  it  by 
crossing  Duck  River  above ;  hence  the  army  was  moved  to  the 
north  bank  of  the  river,  in  the  night  of  November  27.  Thomas 
\vas  very  urgent  that  the  line  of  Duck  River  might  be  held,  if 
possible,  as  the  arrival  of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  Corps  from  Mis 
souri  had  been  expected  daily  for  some  time,  when  General 
Thomas  intended,  as  was  understood,  to  come  to  the  front  in 
person  with  the  corps  and  all  other  troops  he  could  assemble, 
take  command  and  move  against  the  enemy.  Due  to  trouble 
with  the  telegraph  code,  Thomas  and  SCHOFIELD  could  not 
communicate  promptly;  but  the  former  in  his  official  report 
referred  to  "instructions  already  given"  and  said:  "My  plans 
and  wishes  were  fully  explained  to  General  SCHOFIELD,  and,  as 
subsequent  events  will  show,  properly  appreciated  and  exe 
cuted  by  him." 

SCHOFIKLD  received  information — afternoon  of  November 
28 — that  Hood's  Cavalry  had  forced  the  crossing  of  Duck  River 
above  Columbia;  and  in  that  connection,  he  said:  "Only  one 
thing  was  clear  and  that  was  that  I  must  hold  Hood  back,  if 
possible,  iir.  til  informed  that  Thomas  had  concentrated  his 
troops;  for  if  I  failed  in  that,  Hood  would  not  only  force  me 
back  on  Nashville  before  Thomas  was  ready  to  meet  him  there, 
but  would  get  possession  of  the  Chattanooga  Railroad  and  thus 
cut  off  all  the  troops  coming  to  Nashville  from  that  direction." 

Early  in  the  morning  of  November  29,  an  infantry  brigade 
was  sent  up  the  river  to  watch  the  enemy's  movements;  and 
at  the  same  time  Stanley  was  ordered,  with  two  divisions  of 
the  Fourth  Corps,  back  to  Spring  Hill,  to  occupy  and  intrench 

47 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

a  position  there  covering  the  roads  and  trains  ordered  parked 
at  that  place,  and  General  Ruger  was  ordered  to  join  him. 
About  8  A.  M.,  of  the  29th,  Thomas  notified  SCHOFIELD  that 
Smith  had  not  arrived,  and  expressed  the  wish  that  the  Duck 
River  position  be  held  until  Smith's  arrival;  and  another 
despatch  designated  Franklin,  behind  the  Harpeth  River,  as 
the  place  to  which  SCHOFIELD  would  have  to  retire  if  it  became 
necessary  to  fall  back  from  Duck  River.  SCHOFIELD  thereupon 
decided  to  hold  the  Duck  River  Crossing  until  the  night  of 
the  29th,  thus  gaining  twenty-four  hours  more  for  Thomas  to 
concentrate  his  troops. 

Stanley  arrived  at  Spring  Hill  in  time  to  beat  off  Forest's 
Cavalry  and  protect  the  trains.  Then  he  intrenched  a  good 
position  in  which  to  meet  Hood's  columns  which  arrived  in  the 
afternoon,  with  the  result  that  there  was  a  hard  fight  lasting 
until  about  dark.  "Hood  went  to  bed  that  night,  while  I 
(ScHOFiELD)  was  in  the  saddle  all  night,  directing  all  the  impor 
tant  movements  of  my  troops."  As  soon  as  SCHOFIELD  was 
satisfied  that  Hood  had  gone  to  Spring  Hill,  he  took  the  head 
of  his  troops  and  marched  rapidly  to  that  place,  and  made  all 
dispositions  of  his  troops  deemed  necessary  for  s-fYety.  He 
appreciated  the  importance  of  having  the  pike  to  Franklin 
open,  and,  to  learn  that  it  was  clear,  sent  his  gallant  and 
accomplished  aid — Capt.  William  J.  Twining — to  "go  at  full 
gallop  (with  the  headquarters  troop)  down  the  pike  to  Franklin, 
and  to  ride  over  whatever  might  be  found  in  their  way."  The 
clatter  of  hoofs  on  that  hard  road  died  out  in  the  distance, 
and  SCHOFIELD  knew  that  the  road  was  clear!  And  his  army 
marched  across  "the  golden  bridge  by  which  the  abyss  may 

be  crossed,"  en  route  to  Franklin! 

48 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Twilight  had  covered  the  Confederate  Army,  and  we  have 
Hood's  words:  *  *  *  "Turning  to  General  Cheatham,  I 
exclaimed  with  deep  emotion  as  I  felt  the  golden  opportunity 
slipping  from  me :  'General,  why  in  the  name  of  God  have  you 
not  attacked  the  enemy  and  taken  possession  of  that  pike?'" 
*  *  *  "It  was  reported  to  me  at  this  hour  (eleven  or  twelve 
o'clock  at  night)  that  the  enemy  was  marching  along  the  road, 
almost  under  the  light  of  the  camp-fires  of  the  main  body 
of  the  army.  I  sent  to  General  Cheatham  to  know  if  at  least 
a  line  of  skirmishers  could  not  be  advanced,  in  order  to  delay 
their  march,  and  enable  me  to  attack  in  the  morning.  Nothing 
wab  done.  The  Federals  with  immense  wagon  trains  were 
permitted  to  march  by  us  the  remainder  of  the  night,  within 
gun-shot  of  our  lines/'  *  *  *  Hood  had  led  the  main 
body  of  his  army  to  within  about  two  miles  of  the  pike  from 
Columbia  to  Spring  Hill — in  full  view  of  the  pike — and  there 
halted,  about  3  P.  M.,  November  29.  He  had  ordered  Cheat- 
ham  to  take  possession  and  hold  the  pike,  at  or  near  Spring 
Hill.  If  that  had  been  done — if  the  Confederates  had  "taken 
possession  and  formed  line  across  the  pike" — food's  forces 
as  an  easy  matter,  could  "have  enveloped,  routed  and  captured 
SCHOFIELD'S  forces  that  afternoon  or  the  ensuing  day."  Hood 
has  added:  "The  best  move  in  my  career  as  a  soldier,  I  was 
thus  destined  to  behold  come  to  naught."  There  was  contro 
versy — assertions  and  denials — between  Hood  and  Cheatham 
as  to  the  failure.  Specifications  need  not  be  made  here,  as  the 
subject  is  available  in  printed  correspondence. 

The  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  followed  by  grand 
results,  are  prominently  referred  to  in  SCHOFIELD'S  "Forty- six 

49 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Years  in  the  Army,"  and  the  "Records  of  the  Union  and  Con 
federate  Armies."  In  the  first — pages  165  to  188 — will  be  found 
valuable  statements  as  to  the  campaign,  with  the  addition- 
pages  189  to  225— of  a  sketch  necessary  to  full  understanding 
of  the  operations  preceding,  and  immediately  following,  the 
battle  of  Franklin.  SCHOFIELD  had  said:  "It  is  worthy  of 
note,  as  instructive  comparisons,  that,  on  November  30,  Hood 
advanced  from  Spring  Hill  to  Franklin  and  made  his  famous 
assault  in  about  the  same  length  of  time  that  it  took  our  troops 
to  advance  from  the  first  to  the  second  position  at  Nashville 
and  make  the  assault  of  December  16;  and  that  the  Fourth 
and  Twenty-third  Corps,  on  November  29  and  30,  fought 
two  battles — Spring  Hill  and  Franklin — and  marched  forty 
miles,  from  Duck  River  to  Nashville,  in  thirty-six  hours.  Time 
is  an  element  in  military  problems,  the  value  of  which  cannot 
be  too  highly  estimated.  Yet  how  seldom  has  it  been  duly 
appreciated." 

As  to  the  battle  of  Franklin,  SCHOFIELD  said:  *  *  * 
"The  charging  ranks  of  the  enemy,  the  flying  remnants  of  our 
broken  troops,  and  the  double  ranks  of  our  first  line  coming 
back  from  the  trenches  together,  produced  the  momentary 
impression  of  an  overwhelming  mass  of  the  enemy  passing 
our  parapets.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that,  for  a  moment, 
my  'heart  sank  within  me !'  But,  instantly,  Opdyck's  brigade 
and  the  i2th  and  i6th  Kentucky  sprang  forward  and  steadily 
advanced  to  the  breach.  *  *  *  A  few  seconds  of  suspense 
and  intense  anxiety  followed;  then  the  space  in  rear  of  our 
lines  became  clear  of  fugitives,  and  the  steady  roar  of  musketry 
and  artillery,  with  the  dense  volume  of  smoke  rising  along  the 

50 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

entire  line,  told  me  that  'the  breach  is  restored  and  the  victory 
won!'  That  scene,  and  the  emotion  of  that  one  moment, 
were  worth  all  the  losses  of  a  soldier's  lifetime." 

With  the  repulse  of  Hood  at  Franklin,  "there  was  no  further 
obstacle  to  the  concentration  of  Thomas'  forces  at  Nashville, 
and  the  necessary  preparation  for  the  offensive.  *  *  * 
Thomas  could  have  given  battle  the  second  or  third  day  after 
Franklin,  with  more  than  a  fair  prospect  of  success."  The 
shattered  condition  of  Hood's  Army  prevented  it  from  making 
any  serious  movement  for  some  days.  Eventually  Hood 
fortified  his  forces  near  Nashville — within  firing  distance- 
where  he  remained  two  weeks,  without  firing  a  gun ! 

December  15,  1864,  in  front  of  Nashville,  the  Union  Army 
attacked  Hood's,  and  the  morning  of  the  i6th  revealed  the 
enemy  in  its  new  position,  his  left  where  it  was  before — in 
SCHOFIELD'S  immediate  front — but  the  rest  of  his  line  far 
back  from  the  ground  on  which  the  other  portions  of  Thomas' 
Army  had  passed  the  night.  About  4  P.  M.,  December  16, 
Thomas  joined  SCHOFIELD  near  the  Union  right.  The  troops 
were  then  in  movement,  and  Thomas  had  hardly  exchanged 
the  usual  salutions  when  shouts  on  the  Union  left  announced 
that  a  division  of  Smith's  Corps  "had  already  carried  the 
enemy's  work  at  its  front,  and  our  line  had  advanced  and 
swept  all  before  it." 

The  resistance  along  the  whole  left  and  center  of  Hood's 
line  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  either  strong  or  obstinate. 
The  Union  losses  were,  comparatively,  insignificant — the  Con 
federate  fire  seemed  no  more  than  that  of  an  ordinary  skirmish. 
What  little  fight  was  left  in  Hood's  Army  after  November  30 

51 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFlELD. 

(at  Franklin)  had  been  greatly  diminished,  December  16  (at 
Nashville).  December  16,  7:45  P.  M.,  SCHOFIELD  in  his  report 
to  Thomas,  said:  *  *  *  "I  have  conversed  with  some  of 
the  officers  captured,  and  am  satisfied  Hood's  Army  is  more 
thoroughly  beaten  than  any  troops  I  have  ever  seen." 

November  30,  before  the  battle  of  Franklin,  Thomas  was 
"not  ready  for  the  battle  at  Nashville"  and  desired  that  SCHO- 
FiELD  should,  if  possible,  hold  Hood  back  for  three  days  longer. 
The  action,  as  determined  between  Thomas  and  SCHOFIELD, 
was  ordered,  and  partially  executed  by  the  movement  of  trains 
toward  Nashville  before  the  Franklin  battle  opened — which 
was  at  4  P.  M.,  November  30,  continuing  until  after  dark. 
Hood  was  repulsed  at  all  points,  with  very  heavy  loss.  At 
midnight  SCHOFIELD'S  Army  started  for  Brentwood,  where, 
early  in  the  morning  of  December  i,  SCHOFIELD  received  orders 
to  continue  the  march  to  Nashville. 

Well  may  it  be  said  that  the  battle  of  Nashville  was  fought 
at  Franklin ! 

December  27,  1864,  SCHOFIELD  wrote  to  General  Grant, 
at  City  Point,  Virginia :  *  *  *  "It  may  not  be  practicable 
now  for  me  to  join  General  Sherman,  but  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  transfer  my  command  to  Virginia." 
And, December  28, he  wrote  to  General  Sherman  at  Savannah: 
*  *  *  "I  take  it  the  object  for  which  I  was  left  in  this 
part  of  the  country  has  been  accomplished,  and  I  would  like 
very  much  to  be  with  you  again,  to  take  part  in  the  future 
operations  of  the  Grand  Army.  Cannot  this  be  brought  about? 
I  have  written  to  General  Grant."  *  *  *  The  result  was 
the  transfer  of  the  Twenty-third  Army  Corps,  15,000  strong, 

52 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

with  its  artillery,  trains,  animals  and  baggage,  from  Clifton, 
Tennessee,  via  the  Tennessee  and  Ohio  rivers  and  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  Railroad,  to  the  Potomac,  in  eleven  days — 
distance,  1,400  miles.  This  movement  commenced  January 
15,  1865,  within  five  days  after  the  movement  had  been  deter 
mined  upon  in  Washington.  It  was  continued  by  water  to 
North  Carolina,  where,  early  in  February,  Wilmington  was 
captured.  March  22,  when  the  right  wing  of  Sherman's  army 
reached  Goldsboro,  it  found  there  the  corps  which  a  short 
time  prior  had  been  encamped  on  the  Tennessee.  The  move 
ment  was  much  impeded  by  severe  weather — rivers  were 
blocked  by  ice  and  railroads  rendered  hazardous  by  frost  and 
snow.  SCHOFIELD  "enjoyed  very  much  being  a  simple  pas 
senger  on  that  comfortable  journey,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  military  history,  and  exceedingly  creditable  to  the  officers 
of  the  War  Department  who  directed  and  conducted  it." 

As  to  the  defeat  and  practical  destruction  of  Hood's  army  in 
Tennessee,  SCHOFIELD  has  said  that  "it  paved  the  way  to  the 
speedy  termination  of  the  war,  which  the  capture  of  Lee 
by  Grant  fully  accomplished.  *  *  *  The  capitulation  of 
Johnston  was  but  the  natural  sequence  of  Lee's  surrender,  for 
Johnston's  army  was  not  surrendered,  and  could  not  have 
been  compelled  to  surrender.  *  *  *  jn  military  history 
Sherman's  great  march  must  rank  only  as  auxiliary  to  the  far 
more  important  operations  of  Grant  and  Thomas.  Sherman 
at  the  time  saw  clearly  enough  this  view  of  the  case;  hence 
his  undeviating  bent  toward  the  final  object  of  his  march, 
disregarding  all  minor  ends — to  take  part  in  the  capture  of 
Lee's  army."  We  have  the  additional  words  of  SCHOFIELD  as 

to  Johnston's  capitulation : 

53 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

"At  the  time  of  Sherman's  first  interview  with  Johnston,  I 
hinted  that  I  would  like  to  accompany  him;  but  he  desired 
me  to  remain  in  immediate  command,  as  I  was  next  in  rank 
and  we  could  not  tell  what  might  happen.  He  took  some 
others  writh  him,  but  I  believe  had  no  one  present  in  the  room 
to  assist  him  in  his  discussion  with  Johnston  and  Breckenridge. 
At  his  last  interview  I  accompanied  him  at  his  special  request. 
On  meeting  at  Burnett's  House,  after  the  usual  salutations 
Generals  Sherman  and  Johnston  retired  to  the  conference  room, 
and  were  there  a  long  time,  with  closed  doors.  At  length  I 
was  summoned  to  their  presence  and  informed,  in  substance, 
that  they  were  unable  to  arrange  the  terms  of  capitulation  to 
their  satisfaction.  They  seemed  discouraged  at  the  failure  of 
the  arrangement  to  which  they  had  attached  so  much  impor 
tance,  apprehensive  that  the  terms  of  Grant  and  Lee,  pure  and 
simple,  could  not  be  executed,  and  that  if  modified  at  all  they 
would  meet  with  a  second  disapproval.  I  listened  to  their 
statements  of  the  difficulties  they  had  encountered,  and  then 
stated  how  I  thought  they  all  could  be  arranged.  General 
Johnston  replied  in  substance  :  '  I  think  General  SCHOFIELD  can 
fix  it ;'  and  General  Sherman  intimated  to  me  to  write,  pen  and 
paper  being  on  the  table  where  I  was  sitting,  while  the  two 
great  antagonists  were  nervously  pacing  the  floor.  I  at  once 
wrote  the  'Military  Convention '  of  April  26,  handed  it  to  General 
Sherman,  and  he,  after  reading  it,  to  General  Johnston.  Having 
explained  that  I,  as  Department  Commander,  after  General 
Sherman  was  gone,  could  do  all  that  might  be  necessary  to 
remove  the  difficulties  which  seemed  so  serious,  the  terms  as 
written  by  me  were  agreed  to,  as  General  Sherman  says  'without 

54 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

hesitation,'  and  General  Johnston,  'without  difficulty;'  and 
after  being  copied,  without  alteration,  were  signed  by  the  two 
commanders.  Johnston's  words,  on  handing  the  paper  back  to 
Sherman,  were:  'I  believe  that  is  the  best  we  can  do.'  It  was 
in  pursuance  of  this  understanding  that  I  made,  with  General 
Johnston,  the  'supplemental  terms,' and  gave  his  disbanded  men 
250,000  rations  with  wagons  to  haul  them." 

SCHOFIELD,  from  the  very  earliest  consideration  of  the  vital 
question — restoration  of  civil  government  in  the  Southern 
States — labored  ardently  for  a  happy  solution,  and  extended 
sound  advice  to  that  end. 

In  June,  1865,  after  relinquishing  command  in  North  Carolina, 
he  entered  upon  service  in  respect  to  the  then  existing  inter 
vention  in  Mexico  by  the  French  Emperor.  It  was  proposed 
to  raise  an  army  under  specified  conditions;  and  the  idea  was 
"to  aid  the  Mexicans  without  giving  cause  for  war  between 
the  United  States  and  France."  Subsequently  the  proposition 
to  raise  an  army  was  given  up,  and  SCHOFIELD  was  called  to  an 
interview  with  the  Secretary  of  State  who  then  proposed  that 
SCHOFIELD  should  "go  to  France,  under  authority  of  the  State 
Department,  to  see  if  the  French  Emperor  could  not  be  made 
to  understand  the  necessity  of  withdrawing  his  army  from 
Mexico,  and  thus  save  us  the  necessity  of  expelling  it  by  force." 
SCHOFIELD  realized  that  the  proposition  seemed  to  place  upon 
him  the  responsibility  of  deciding  the  momentous  question 
of  future  friendship  or  enmity  between  his  own  country  and 
our  ancient  ally  and  friend;  but,  August  4,  1865,  he  decided 
"to  undertake  the  mission,"  and  after  several  long  conversations 

55 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIKLD. 

on   the   subject,   Mr.   Seward's  explanations  and  instructions 
were  summed  up  in  the  words: 

"I  want  you  to  get  your  legs  under  Napoleon's  mahogany 
and  tell  him  he  must  get  out  of  Mexico!"  SCHOFIELD  reached 
Paris  to  find  some  "undue  excitement  in  the  public  mind," 
and  he  availed  himself  of  an  early  opportunity,  given  by  the 
American  thanksgiving  dinner, "to  intimate  in  unmistakable 
terms  that  [his]  mission,  if  any,  was  one  entirely  friendly  to 
the  people  of  France."  The  following  is  a  part  of  the  account : 
*  *  *  "The  next  toast  was  the  long-looked-for  one  of  the 
evening,  for  it  was  known  that  it  would  call  up  a  distinguished 
guest  from  whom  all  were  anxious  to  hear.  It  was:  'The 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States.'  When  the  band  had 
ceased  playing  'Yankee  Doodle,'  Major-General  SCHOFIELD 
rose  to  reply,  and  was  received  with  tremendous  enthusiasm. 
The  ladies  rose  and  waved  their  handerchiefs,  and  gentlemen 
shouted  until  they  were  hoarse.  The  General  *  *  *  said: 
Fellow  Countrymen — I  want  words  to  express  to  you  the 
satisfaction  which  will  be  felt  in  the  heart  of  every  soldier  and 
sailor  when  he  learns  the  manner  in  which  the  names  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  have  been  received  by  you  to-night.  I  will 
at  this  time  allude  but  briefly  to  one  of  the  great  lessons 
taught  by  the  American  War— the  grandest  lesson  of  modern 
times.  A  great  people  who  have  heretofore  lived  under  a 
government  so  mild  that  they  were  scarcely  aware  of  its  exist 
ence  have  found,  in  time  of  war,  that  Government  to  be  one 
of  the  strongest  in  the  world  (cheers),  raising  and  maintaining 
armies  and  navies  vaster  than  any  before  known  (cheers). 
In  point  of  character,  in  point  of  physical  and  moral  qualities, 

56 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

in  point  of  discipline  and  of  mobility  in  large  masses,  the  armies 
of  the  United  States  have  never  before  been  equaled  (loud 
cheers).  Yet  this,  great  as  it  is,  is  not  the  greatest  wonder 
of  the  American  War.  This  vast  army,  as  soon  as  its  work  was 
done,  was  quietly  disbanded,  and  every  man  went  to  his  home, 
as  quietly  as  the  Christian  goes  back  from  church  on  Sabbath 
morning;  and  each  soldier  re-entered  upon  the  avocations  of 
peace  and  a  better  citizen  than  he  was  before  he  became  a 
soldier  (renewed  applause).  This  was  the  grandest  lesson  of 
the  war.  It  shows  that  the  power  of  a  nation  to  maintain  its 
dignity  and  integrity  does  not  result  from  or  depend  upon  its 
form  of  government;  that  the  greatest  national  strength — the 
power  to  mass  the  largest  armies  in  time  of  war — is  entirely 
consistent  with  the  broadest  liberty  of  the  citizen  in  time  of 
peace  (enthusiasm).  Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  propose  a 
toast  which  I  know  will  be  responded  to  by  every  true  Ameri 
can —  'The  old  friendship  between  France  and  the  United  States : 
May  it  ever  be  strengthened  and  perpetuated!'  General 
SCHOFIELD'S  toast  was  drunk  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  upon 
taking  his  seat  the  applause  which  followed  his  remarks  was 
deafening." 

SCHOFIELD  continued  his  marked  skill  in  diplomacy,  and, 
January  24,  1866,  reported  to  Mr.  Seward,  by  letter,  and  also 
to  General  Grant,  ending  in  conclusion  as  follows:  "An  officer 
of  the  Emperor's  household  left  here  about  ten  days  ago  with 
despatches  for  Mexico,  which,  it  is  understood,  contained  the 
Emperor's  declaration,  to  Maximilian,  of  his  intention  to 
recall  his  troops.  This  may  give  you  some  idea  of  the  time 
when  the  matter  may  be  arranged  if  all  works  well." 

57 


JOHN7    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

The  Emperor  having  become  satisfied  that  SCHOFIELD  was 
not  occupied  with  designs  hostile  to  Prance,  a  very  courteous 
letter  from  the  Minister  of  War  was  received  by  SCHOFIELD, 
and  an  accomplished  officer  was  directed  to  report  to  him ; 
and,  under  official  guidance,  he  saw  all  the  military  establish 
ments  about  Paris.  He  was  presented  to  the  Emperor  and 
Empress,  and  in  conversation  the  former  desired  to  know 
as  to  the  operations  of  the  American  Armies — "especially  the 
marvelous  methods  of  supply  at  great  distances  from  a  base 
of  operations." 

In  August,  1866,  he  was  assigned  to  command  the  Department 
of  the  Potomac,  including  Virginia  and  the  reconstruction  of 
that  State.  The  manner  in  which  he  executed  the  "reconstruc 
tion"  acts  of  Congress,  so  as  to  save  that  State  from  the  evils 
suffered  by  her  sister  states,  is  an  instructive  part  of  the  period 
of  that  time.  His  administration  was  based  on  constitutional 
principles!  No  case  arose  in  which  it  was  found  necessary, 
in  his  opinion,  to  supersede  the  civil  authorities  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  justice.  As  district  commander  he  refused  to  make 
himself  a  party  to  the  spoliation  of  the  people  placed  under  his 
charge !  He  left  Virginia  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the 
good  people  of  that  State  appreciated  the  fact  that  he  had  ever 
labored  for  their  welfare. 

In  that  convulsive  period  embracing  the  impeachment  trial 
of  President  Johnson  and  the  quarrel  between  the  President 
and  Congress  over  the  War  Department,  he  was  urged  to  accept 
the  office  of  Secretary  of  War,  with  the  assurance  that  the  contest, 
which  endangered  the  peace  of  the  country,  could  be  adjusted. 
He  consented,  and  when  his  nomination  was  sent  to  the  Senate, 

58 


JOHN   MCALUSTKR   SCHOFIELD. 

that  body— in  spite  of  the  large  majority  in  opposition  to  the 
President — confirmed  the  appointment  with  almost  entire 
unanimity.  That  great  mark  of  confidence  touched  ScuoFiELD 
very  deeply !  When  he  yielded  the  War  Portfolio,  in  March 
1869,  to  the  newly  elected  President,  he  had  not  incurred  cen 
sure  from  either  party  for  any  of  his  official  acts — he  had  the 
approbation  of  all  for  impartial  discharge  of  duty. 

Subsequent  to  his  term  as  Secretary  of  War,  his  services 
were  varied  and  most  valuable :  In  command  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Missouri;  as  President  of  the  Board  on  Tactics 
and  Small  Arms;  in  command  of  the  Division  of  the  Pacific; 
on  special  mission  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands;  in  revising  Army 
Regulations;  as  superintendent  of  the  United  States  Military 
Academy,  and  in  command  of  the  Department  of  West  Point; 
as  President  of  the  Board  of  Inquiry,  case  of  General  Fitz-John 
Porter;  in  command  of  the  Division  of  the  Gulf;  in  witnessing 
Autumn  Maneuvers  of  the  French  Army;  in  command  of  the 
Pacific  Division  and  Department  of  California ;  in  command  of 
the  Division  of  the  Missouri,  and  of  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Department  of  the  East;  as  President  of  the  Military  Prison 
Board ;  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Ordnance  and  Fortification  ; 
and  as  General-in-Chief  of  the  U.  S.  Army  from  August,  1888,  to 
vSeptember  29,  1905;  when,  as  he  has  said:  "Came  the  hour 
when  I  had  done,  however  imperfectly,  all  the  duty  my  country 
required  of  me,  and  I  was  placed  on  the  retired  list  of  the  army. 
Having  been,  at  appropriate  periods  in  my  official  career,  by 
the  unsolicited  action  of  my  official  superiors,  justly  and  gener 
ously  rewarded  for  all  my  public  services,  and  having  been 
at  the  head  of  the  army  for  several  vears,  near  the  close  of  the 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

period  fixed  by  law  for  active  military  service  I  was  made  the 
grateful  recipient  of  the  highest  honor  which  the  government 
of  my  country  can  confer  upon  a  soldier,  namely,  that  of 
appointment  to  a  higher  grade  (Lieutenant-General)  under  a 
special  act  of  Congress.  My  public  life  was,  in  the  main,  a 
stormy  one.  *  *  *  Many  times  I  felt  keenly  the  injustice 
of  those  who  did  not  appreciate  the  sincerity  of  my  purpose 
to  do,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  what  the  Government  desired 
of  me,  with  little  or  no  regard  for  my  own  personal  opinions 
or  ambitions.  But  I  can  now  concede  to  nearly  all  of  those 
who  so  bitterly  opposed  me  the  same  patriotic  motives  which 
I  know  inspired  my  own  conduct;  and  I  would  be  unworthy 
of  my  birthright  as  an  American  citizen  if  I  did  not  feel  grateful 
to  my  countrymen  and  to  our  Government  for  all  the  kindness 
they  have  shown  me." 

In  the  foregoing  words  we  see  the  modesty  of  an  eminently 
distinguished  personage !  For  the  details  of  his  military  and 
civil  service,  students — particularly  the  graduates  of  our  Alma 
Mater — may  well  study  SCHOFIELD'S  "Forty-six  years  in  the 
Army,"  as  "dedicated  to  the  young  citizens  whose  patriotism, 
valor  and  military  skill  must  be  the  safeguard  of  the  interests, 
the  honor  and  the  glory  of  the  American  Union." 

He  did  not  pass  his  days  in  calm  weather,  or  in  uninterrupted 
sunshine;  and  he  was  familiar  with  that  old  remark:  "That 
an  unclouded  morn  is  not  always  followed  by  a  clear  and  serene 
evening."  He  fully  realized,  at  times,  "that  no  virtues,  how 
ever  great — no  labors,  however  disinterested — no  piety,  however 
sublime  and  ardent,  could  protect  him  from  the  storm  of 
persecution." 

60 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

In  June  1891,  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  he  married  Miss  Georgia 
Kilbourne,  daughter  of  Mrs.  George  E.  Kilbourne  of  that  city. 
One  daughter — Georgia — was  born  of  that  union. 

General  Grant  had  not  ceased,  up  to  the  last  day  of  his  life, 
to  manifest  for  SCHOFIELD  a  very  kind  feeling;  and  one  of  his 
last  efforts,  when  he  could  no  longer  speak,  was  to  put  on  paper 
a  remembrance  mentioning  SCHOFIELD'S  name.  We  have  these 
words  from  SCHOFIELD  :  "  It  was  General  Grant  whose  voluntary 
application,  in  the  winter  of  1863-4,  relieved  me  from  the  disa 
greeable  controversy  with  partisan  politicians  in  Missouri,  and 
gave  me  command  of  an  army  in  the  field.  It  was  upon  his 
recommendation  that  my  services  in  that  command  were 
recognized  by  my  promotion  from  the  grade  of  Captain  to  that 
of  Brigadier-General  in  the  regular  army,  and  Brevet  Major- 
General  for  services  in  the  battle  of  Franklin.  It  was  Grant 
who,  upon  my  suggestion,  ordered  me  with  the  Twenty- third 
Corps,  from  Tennessee  to  North  Carolina,  to  take  part  in  the 
closing  operations  of  the  war,  instead  of  leaving  me  where 
nothing  important  remained  to  be  done.  It  was  he  who  paid 
me  the  high  compliment  of  selecting  me  to  conduct  the  opera 
tions  which  might  be  necessary  to  enforce  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
against  the  French  army  which  had  invaded  Mexico.  It  was 
he  who  firmly  sustained  me  in  saving  the  people  of  Virginia 
from  the  worst  effects  of  the  congressional  reconstruction  laws. 
It  was  he  who  greeted  me  most  cordially  as  Secretary  of  War 
in  1868,  and  expressed  a  desire  that  I  might  hold  that  office 
under  his  own  administration.  And,  finally,  it  was  he  who 
promoted  me  to  the  rank  of  Major-General  in  the  regular  army, 
the  next  day  after  his  inauguration  as  President."  *  *  * 

61 


JOHN    MCALLISTER    SCHOFIELD. 

"Matchless  courage  and  composure  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
trying  events  of  battle,  magnanimity  in  the  hour  of  victory,  and 
moral  courage  to  compel  all  others  to  respect  his  plighted  faith 
toward  those  who  had  surrendered  to  him,  were  the  crowning 
glories  of  Grant's  greatness  and  noble  character. "  *  *  * 

The  concern  of  education  and  the  interests  of  youth  occupied 
SCHOFIELD'S  attention,  and  were  exemplified  by  his  life  work. 
When  consulted  he  stood  ready  to  give  judicious  advice.  He 
used  his  leisure  in  study,  and  was  familiar  with  methods  in  all 
his  undertakings.  He  was  interested  in  awakening  that  latent 
curiosity  in  the  minds  of  the  young  which  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  mental  improvement. 

In  the  art  military  of  the  Ancients,  he  studied  the  under 
takings  of  war;  its  declaration;  the  choice  of  generals  and 
officers;  the  preparation — involving  supplies;  the  raising  of 
troops — their  pay,  provisions  and  arms;  the  march  of  armies; 
the  construction  and  fortification  of  the  camp,  and  its  disposi 
tions;  the  employment  and  exercise  of  the  troops;  the  success 
of  battles,  with  the  manner  of  embattling;  punishments — re 
wards—trophies — triumphs;  sieges,  and  attack  and  defense 
of  positions.  And  thus  his  taste  and  favorite  studies 
led  him  largely  to  evolution  in  the  direction  of  those  modern 
sciences  which,  in  a  few  years,  have  imparted  such  enormous 
strides  to  the  development  of  those  mechanical  means  of  attack 
and  defense,  changing,  in  a  corresponding  degree,  the  great 
problems  of  war.  Illustrative  of  his  bent,  and  as  to  artillery, 
aside  from  other  arms,  we  have  only  to  refer  to  his  General 
Order  108,  series  of  1888,  from  the  Headquarters  of  the  Army. 
As  to  mobs  and  insurrections  we  have  his  General  Orders  15  and 

62 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

23,  series  of  1894,  from  the  same  source.  He  has  said :  "Science 
has  wrought  no  greater  revolution  in  any  of  the  arts  of  peace 
than  it  has  in  the  art  of  war.  Indeed,  the  vast  national  interests 
involved,  all  over  the  world,  have  employed  the  greatest  efforts 
of  genius  in  developing  the  most  powerful  means  of  attack 
and  defense." 

As  a  result  of  his  extensive  reading  and  study  of  Ancient 
History  he  could  say  with  the  historian:  "Before  me  stand 
princes  and  kings  full  of  wisdom  and  prudence  in  their  counsels, 
of  equity  and  justice  in  the  government  of  their  people,  of  valor 
and  intrepidity  in  battle,  of  moderation  and  clemency  in  vic 
tory,  subjecting  many  kingdoms,   founding  vast  empires  and 
acquiring  the  love  of  the  conquered  nations  no  less  than  of  their 
own   subjects;  such  was  Cyrus.     At  the   same   time   I   see   a 
multitude  of  Greeks  and  Romans,  equally  illustrious  in  peace 
and  war;  generals  of  the  most  exalted  bravery  and  military 
knowledge ;  politicians  of  exceeding  ability  in  the  arts  of  gov 
ernment;  famous  legislators,  whose  laws  and  institutions  still 
amaze  us,  while  they  seem  almost  incredible,  so  much  they 
appear  above  humanity;  magistrates  venerable  for  their  love 
of  the  public  good;  judges  of  great  wisdom,  incorruptible,  and 
proof  against  all  that  can  tempt  audacity;  and  lastly,  citizens 
entirely  devoted  to  their  country,   whose  general  and  noble 
disinterestedness  rises  so  high  as  the  contempt  of  riches,  and  the 
esteem  and  love  of  poverty.     If  I  turn  my  eyes  to  the  arts  and 
sciences,  what  luster  do  not  the  multitude  of  admirable  works 
come  down  to  us  display,  in  which  shine  forth,  according  to  the 
difference  of  subjects,  art  and  disposition,  greatness  of  genius, 
riches  of  invention,  beauty  of  style,  solidity  of  judgment  and 

63 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIEUX 

profound  erudition."  And  yet,  as  to  that  splendid  scene  of 
history,  he  passed  judgment — he  found  that  everything  was 
in  esteem  except  religion  and  piety!  And  he  well  appreciated 
the  words  of  the  royal  prophet  that  the  "Lord  looked  from 
heaven  upon  the  children  of  men  to  see  if  there  were  any  that 
did  understand  and  seek  God."  They  were  wanting  in  the 
fear  of  God  without  which  there  is  no  true  wisdom ! 

He  profited  by  ancient  history,  and  gained  a  fund  of  knowl 
edge  and  gratification  through  a  narrative  deeply  imbued  with 
antiquity — its  spirit  and  feeling.  He  delved,  for  he  knew  that 
history  recites  maxims  drawn  from  experience.  But  by  pagan 
lore  his  mind,  while  enlarged,  was  not  paganized ! 

With  his  knowledge  of  the  evolution  of  ages,  he  was  led  to 
general  military  education,  and  his  constant  effort  was  to 
advance  it — he  claimed  that  it  was  indispensable  to  good  citi 
zenship,  and  to  all  in  the  legislative  and  executive  departments ! 
He  held  as  to  civic  virtue,  that  it  must  be  preserved  to  an 
extent  such  that  in  trying  times,  "men  will  not  only  die  for 
their  country,  but  that  all  men  shall  be  compelled  to  live  jor  it!" 

He  strenuously  held:  "that  the  great  object  of  education 
at  West  Point  and  other  military  schools  is  not  to  make  high 
commanders,  but  to  make  thorough  soldiers,  men  capable  of 
creating  effective  armies  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  and  of 
commanding  small  bodies  of  men. 

If  great  commanders  are  ever  again  required  in  this  country 
they  will  come  to  the  front  in  due  time.  They  cannot  be 
selected  in  advance  of  actual  trial  in  war.  Even  West  Point, 
though  one  of  the  best  schools  in  the  world,  can,  at  the  most,  but 
lay  the  foundation  for  a  military  education.  Each  individual 

64 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

must  build  for  himself,  upon  that  foundation,  the  superstructure 
which  is  to  make  his  place  in  the  world.  If  he  does  not  build, 
his  monument  will  hardly  appear  above  the  ground,  and  will 
soon  be  covered  out  of  sight." 

And,  in  that  connection,  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  "General 
Military  Education "  as  indispensable;  and  pointedly  referred 
to  in  his  "Forty-six  Years  in  the  Army,"  page  519,  and 
following. 

He  was  wedded  to  the  necessity  for  thorough  preparation 
for  war  at  all  times,  and  said :  ' '  Let  the  schools,  of  all  kinds  and 
grades,  teach  patriotism,  respect  for  law,  obedience  to  authority, 
discipline,  courage,  physical  development,  and  the  rudiments 
of  practical  military  maneuvers;  let  the  national  and  state 
military  schools  be  fostered  and  protected,  and  the  volunteer 
citizen  soldiery  given  material  aid  proportionate  to  their 
military  zeal." 

I  knew  SCHOFIELD  as  my  class-mate,  room-mate  and  section- 
mate  at  West  Point.  We  sat  on  the  same  bench  in  the  section- 
room.  We  knew  each  other  intimately,  and  our  converse 
was  ever  open  and  most  cordial.  At  his  marriage  to  Miss 
Bartlett  I  was  his  groom's-man.  After  the  death  of  his  wife— 
the  great  affliction  of  his  life — I  stood  by  his  side ;  and  when  a 
like  sorrow  fell  to  my  lot,  he  stood  by  my  side.  I  served  near 
him  during  his  incumbency  as  Secretary  of  War;  when  com 
manding  the  Division  of  the  Gulf;  when  temporarily  com 
manding  the  Department  of  Texas;  and  when — for  seven 
years — he  commanded  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  I  was 
his  Adjutant-General  and  Chief -of -Staff.  While  he  was  Super 
intendent  of  the  Military  Academy,  he  asked  the  Secretary 

65 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

of  War  to  assign  me  to  the  charge  of  the  War  Department 
Military  Academy  Division,  thus  that  there  might  be  one  in 
that  position  who  knew  him,  and  that,  formally  and  informally, 
he  might  be  in  close  touch  with  the  Secretary  as  to  Academy 
affairs. 

Subsequent  to  his  retirement  from  active  service  we  met 
quite  frequently  and  maintained  our  correspondence.  Wrhen 
in  Europe  he  wrote,  September,  1904:  "My  health  seems 
to  be  much  better  than  it  has  been  for  several  years,  and  that 
is  the  main  element  in  comfort  and  happiness."  He  had 
concluded  to  remain  abroad  for  another  year;  but  in  June, 
1905,  said:  "We  are  at  length  on  our  way  home  *  *  * 
my  health  is  slowly  improving,  but  I  am  still  far  from  well 
*  *  *  I  shall  be  glad  to  breath  my  native  air  again."  In 
the  autumn  of  1905,  he  as  usual  went  to  St.  Augustine,  Florida, 
for  the  winter.  January  8,  1906,  he  informed  me,  in  connection 
with  a  pamphlet  I  had  sent  him:  "I  shall  examine,  with  great 
interest,  as  soon  as  my  head  has  its  normal  condition  again. 
Just  now  a  conflict  is  on  between  Malaria  and  Quinine  with  the 
usual  disturbance  of  quiet  thought.  My  system  seems  never 
to  have  been  relieved  entirely  from  poison  absorbed  so  many — 
52 — years  ago  in  Florida,  *  *  *  otherwise  I  have  been 
very  well  indeed  so  far  this  winter."  That  was  his  last  letter 
to  me.  I  was  shocked  when  informed  by  telegram  that  he 
died  March  4,  1906. 

The  "Pale  Horse"  stood  to  bear  him  forth;  and  "Kindly 
Light"  led  through  the  encircling  gloom — thus  marking  his 
requiem,  in  the  arms  of  lasting  peace ! 

We  have  the  comforting  assurance  that,  at  his  last  conscious 

moment,  he  could  say: 

66 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

"I  feel  within  me 
A  peace,  above  all  earthly  dignities, 
A  still  and  quiet  conscience." 

Only  a  few  days  prior  to  his  death  he  made  a  trip  to  Key 
West  over  the  railroad  now  passing  near  the  region  of  his 
early  service  as  an  officer,  in  1853-4,  and  the  battlefields  of 
Jupiter  (1836)  and  Okeechobee  (1837).  No  doubt  during  the 
trip  his  thoughts  reverted  to  his  severe  illness  at  Forts  Jupiter 
and  Capron,  and  his  almost  fatal  relapse  on  the  St.  Johns  River. 
It  is  an  incident,  that,  over  that  river,  his  remains  were  carried 
to  their  final  resting  place  at  Arlington ! 

He  had  returned  to  St.  Augustine  February  17,  and  had 
been  unusually  well  and  happy  during  his  absence,  and  up  to 
the  day  of  his  death. 

Under  the  orders  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the 
funeral  honors,  due  to  a  Secretary  of  War,  marked  the  last 
tribute  of  respect.  The  services  at  St.  John's  Church  were 
impressive  and  pathetic.  The  church  was  thronged — embracing 
the  President  and  members  of  his  Cabinet ;  Senators  and  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  Congress;  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court ;  the  Lieutenant-General,  and  other  officers  of  the  Army ; 
officers  of  the  Navy;  delegations  from  the  Loyal  Legion,  Grand 
Army,  Army  of  the  Ohio,  and  other  patriotic  organizations. 
The  Right  Reverend  Bishop,  Alexander  Mackay-Smith,  offi 
ciated  with  touching  sadness,  as  he  remembered  "the  last 
great  figure  of  national  importance,  in  the  history  of  the  Civil 
War,  forty  years  ago,"  and  contemplated  the  drum-beat, 
soon  to  sound,  which  he  associated  with  the  military  signal 

67 


JOHN    MCALLISTER    SCHOFIEUX 

"Lights  out"  *  *  *  "of  a  sublime  epoch,  significant  in  all 
the  ages."  Outside  the  church,  the  adjoining  streets  were 
filled  by  the  imposing  funeral  escort,  and  a  great  multitude. 
As  the  cortege  moved — "sad  and  slow,  as  fits  an  universal 
woe,  with  martial  music" — thousands  stood,  reverently,  looking 
upon  the  funeral  bier,  with  its  casket  covered  by  a  wealth  of 
flowers,  the  tribute  of  military  organizations  and  mourning 
friends.  At  Fort  Myer — entrance  to  Arlington — minute  guns 
sounded,  and  soldiers  bowed  their  heads.  The  commitment 
services — "Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust" — were  followed  by  the 
volleys,  the  salute  due  to  a  Secretary  of  War,  and  "taps."  So 
closed  the  earthly  honors  extended  to  JOHN  McAuJSTER  SCHO- 
tfiEU).  The  lamentations  of  the  country  marked  his  burial! 

As  I  now  think  of  the  past,  my  beloved  and  devoted  friend 
of  57  years  stands  before  me : 

*     *     *     "A  promontory  rock, 
That  compass'd  round  with  turbulent  sound, 
In  middle  ocean  meets  the  surging  shock, 
Tempest-buffeted,  Citadel-crowned." 

Additional  well  known  words  are  applicable  :* 

"Let  his  great  example  stand 
Colossal,  seen  by  every  land. 
To  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure; 
Till  in  all  lands,  and  thro'  all  human  story, 
The  path  of  duty  be  the  way  to  glory.     *     *     * 
He  that  walks  it,  only  thirsting 
For  the  right,  and  learns  to  deaden 
Love  of  self,  before  his  journey  closes, 
He  shall  find  the  stubborn  thistle  bursting 
Into  glossy  purples,  which  outredden 
All  voluptuous  garden  roses."     *     *     * 

*Ode  on  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington. — Tennyson. 

68 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Let  his  countrymen : 

' '  For  many  and  many  an  age  proclaim     *     *     * 
Their  ever  loyal  leader's  fame. 
With  honor,  honor,  honor,  honor  to  him, 
Eternal  honor  to  his  name.     *     *     * 
He  is  gone  who  seemed  so  great — 
Gone;  but  nothing  can  bereave  him 
Of  the  force  he  made  his  own 
Being  here,  and  we  believe  him 
Something  far  advanced  in  State. 
And  that  he  wears  a  truer  crown 
Than  any  wreath  a  man  can  weave  him.     *     *     * 
God  accept  him,  Christ  receive  him." 

THOMAS  MACCURDY  VINCENT. 


31n 

Companion  JOHN  McALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

BY 
COMPANION  COLONEL  FELIX  A.  REEVE,  U.  S.   VOLUNTEERS. 


As  a  member  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Commandery 
to  prepare  an  appropriate  In  Memoriam  tribute  to  our  deceased 
Companion  Lieutenant-General  JOHN  MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD, 
U.  S.  Army,  it  is  my  pleasure  to  co-operate  with  the  other  members 
of  the  Committee  for  two  reasons.  The  first  is  my  admiration 
for  the  splendid  record  made  by  General  SCHOFIELD  in  his  long 
career  as  a  soldier  and  as  a  citizen;  and  the  second  is  for  the 
more  personal  reason  that  he  was  my  friend  tried  and  true, 
and  at  a  time  when  as  the  head  of  an  executive  bureau  I  was 
sacrificed  for  my  political  convictions — dismissed  from  an  office 
reached  on  civil  service  lines. 

But  as  the  last  consideration  can  be  of  little  interest  to  any 
one  except  myself,  and  as  the  public  services  of  General  SCHO 
FIELD  both  as  a  military  and  a  civil  officer  is  faithfully  and 
comprehensively  commemorated  by  the  other  members  of  the 
Committee,  my  own  part  in  the  tribute  to  his  memory  will 
be  easily  performed. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  SCHOFIELD,  then  a  first 
lieutenant,  and  without  hope  of  immediate  promotion,  accepted 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

the  professorship  of  physics  in  Washington  University,  St. 
L/ouis.  When  the  war  seemed  inevitable,  he  informed  the 
War  Department  of  his  readiness  to  return  to  duty  as  a  soldier, 
and  was  thereupon  detailed  to  muster  in  the  troops  required 
of  the  State  of  Missouri.  Soon  after  he  was  appointed  Major 
of  the  ist  Regiment  of  the  Missouri  Reserve  Corps,  and  report 
ing  to  General  Lyon  on  the  26th  of  June,  1861,  he  began  duty 
as  his  adjutant-general.  From  that  time  SCHOFIELD'S  ser 
vices  became  more  and  more  conspicuous  and  his  rise  was 
rapid. 

It  was  in  1862  that  the  unseemly  Missouri  quarrel  began 
between  the  conservative  and  radical  policies  that  endangered 
the  cause  of  the  Union  in  that  State,  and  a  committee  was  sent 
to  Washington  to  demand  the  removal  of  SCHOFIELD,  who  was 
then  a  Brigadier-General,  on  account  of  alleged  inefficiency. 
His  nomination  as  Major-General  hung  fire  in  the  Senate.  His 
friend,  General  Halleck,  had  not  been  able  to  sustain  him  against 
intrigue  in  Kansas,  Missouri,  and  Washington,  but  in  compliance 
with  his  request  ordered  him  to  Tennessee,  where,  with  much 
satisfaction,  he  reported  to  Rosecrans  and  Thomas  at  Mur- 
freesboro,  and  was  assigned  to  Thomas's  old  division  of  the 
Fourteenth  Corps.  But  in  May,  1863,  President  Lincoln 
reappointed  him  Major-General,  and  ordered  him  back  to  the 
"old  scene  of  unsoldierly  strife  and  turmoil  in  Missouri  and 
Kansas."  On  the  24th  of  May,  he  relieved  General  Curtis  in 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri.  This  was  a  dis 
tinct  triumph  as  the  appointment  was  due  to  President  Lincoln, 
whose  support  as  well  as  that  of  his  distinguished  Attorney - 
General,  Edward  Bates,  he  had  from  the  first.  And  to  show 

72 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

the  well-deserved  confidence  the  President  had  in  General 
SCHOFIELD  and  at  the  same  time  the  tactful  and  unfailing  com 
mon  sense  of  the  great  President,  I  will  here  insert,  with  no 
risk  of  being  tedious,  the  letter  addressed  by  the  President  to 
General  SCHOFIELD,  May  27,  1863: 

"EXECUTIVE   MANSION, 

WASHINGTON. 

"My  DEAR  SIR:  Having  relieved  General  Curtis  and  as 
signed  you  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Mis 
souri,  I  think  it  may  be  of  some  advantage  for  me  to  state  to 
you  why  I  did  it. 

"  I  did  not  relieve  General  Curtis  because  of  any  full  convic 
tion  that  he  had  done  wrong  by  commission  or  omission.  I 
did  it  because  of  a  conviction  in  my  mind  that  the  Union 
men  of  Missouri,  constituting,  when  united,  a  vast  majority  of 
the  whole  people,  have  entered  into  a  pestilent  factional  quarrel 
among  themselves — General  Curtis,  perhaps  not  of  choice,  being 
the  head  of  one  faction,  and  Governor  Gamble  that  of  the 
other.  After  months  of  labor  to  reconcile  the  difficulty,  it 
seemed  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  until  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
break  it  up  somehow;  and  as  I  could  not  remove  Governor 
Gamble,  I  had  to  remove  General  Curtis. 

"  Now  that  you  are  in  the  position,  I  wish  you  to  undo  noth 
ing  merely  because  General  Curtis  or  Governor  Gamble  did  it, 
but  to  exercise  your  own  judgment  and  do  right  for  the  public 
interest. 

"Let  your  military  measures  be  strong  enough  to  repel  the 
invader  and  keep  the  peace,  and  not  so  strong  as  to  unneces- 

73 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

sarily  harass  and  persecute  the  people.  It  is  a  difficult  role, 
and  so  much  greater  will  be  the  honor  if  you  perform  it  well. 
If  both  factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse  you,  you  will  probably 
be  about  right.  Beware  of  being  assailed  by  one  and  praised 
by  the  other. 

"  Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN." 

But,  as  stated,  I  propose  to  present  only  a  consecutive 
summary  of  the  military  fortunes  of  General  SCHOFIELD  in 
this  sketch,  and  will  pass  on  to  the  time  when  I  had  the 
honor  to  serve  under  his  command. 

In  August,  1863,  General  Burnside  crossed  the  Cumberland 
mountains  with  an  army  of  18,000  men  for  the  long  deferred 
relief  of  Bast  Tennessee.  It  was  on  the  i2th  of  the  month 
when  the  23d  Army  Corps,  Department  of  the  Ohio,  commanded 
by  General  Burnside,  left  Danville,  Kentucky.  My  regiment, 
the  8th  Tenn.  Vol.  Infantry,  was  in  the  2d  Brigade  of  the  2d 
Division  of  that  Corps.  After  campaigning  up  and  down  the 
valley  of  East  Tennessee  with  undecisive  results,  General 
Burnside  found  his  army  besieged  at  Knoxville  from  November 
17,  to  December  4,  1863.  On  the  2ist  of  December,  Gen.  Jacob 
D.  Cox  superseded  General  Manson  in  command  of  the  23d 
Corps.  On  the  nth  of  December  Gen.  John  G.  Foster  had 
superseded  General  Burnside  in  command  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Ohio. 

General  SCHOFIELD  arrived  at  Knoxville  on  Februarys,  1864, 
and  on  the  following  day  relieved  General  Foster,  and  took 
command  of  the  campaign  in  East  Tennessee,  and  in  March 
conferred  with  General  Sherman  about  the  plans  for  the  coming 

74 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

campaign  in  Georgia.  In  his  entertaining  account  of  it,  Dalton, 
Snake  Creek  Gap,  Resaca,  Rocky-face  Ridge,  Kenesaw,  and 
Atlanta,  become  once  more  familiar,  and  it  scarcely  seems  that 
forty-three  years  have  elapsed  since  these  and  other  places  were 
made  forever  famous  by  that  brilliant  and  successful  invasion. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  General  SCHOFIELD  was  ordered  by 
General  Thomas  to  proceed  at  once  to  Nashville  with  the  23d 
Corps,  to  repel  the  invasion  of  the  State  by  General  Hood.  The 
result  was  the  signal  victories  at  Franklin,  Nashville,  and  other 
points,  for  the  Union  arms.  The  gallantry  and  skill  of  General 
SCHOFIELD  in  all  of  these  engagements  are  familiar  to  every 
reader  of  that  important  campaign.  And  it  is  gratifying  to 
observe  the  credit  accorded  to  the  23d  Army  Corps  and  its 
brave  and  capable  commander,  Gen.  J.  D.  Cox,  as  well  as  other 
commanders  of  corps,  divisions,  and  brigades  who  proved 
themselves  worthy  of  their  wise,  prudent  and  successful  leader, 
Gen.  George  H.  Thomas. 

General  SCHOFIELD'S  conspicuous  services  did  not  terminate 
with  the  disastrous  and  final  overthrow  of  General  Hood  at 
Franklin  and  Nashville.  And  it  should  here  be  noted  that 
for  his  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  at  the  battle  of  Franklin, 
General  SCHOFIELD  was  made  a  Brigadier-General  and  a  brevet 
Major-General  in  the  Regular  Army. 

In  January,  1865,  he  was  detached  from  Thomas's  command 
and  sent  with  the  23d  Army  Corps  to  Washington  and  thence 
to  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River.  In  February  he  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  North  Carolina,  and 
after  several  engagements  joined  General  Sherman  at  Golds- 
boro.  He  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  General  Johnston's 

75 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

army  on  April  26,  1865,  and  was  charged  with  the  execution 
of  the  details  of  the  capitulation.  In  June  of  that  year  he  was 
sent  to  Europe  on  a  special  mission  from  the  State  Department 
in  regard  to  French  intervention  in  Mexico.  On  his  return 
in  1866,  he  was  assigned  to  command  the  Department  of  the 
Potomac.  In  1868  he  succeeded  Mr.  Stanton  as  Secretary 
of  War  and  remained  in  that  office  until  the  close  of  Johnson's 
administration,  and  under  Grant  until  March  12,  1869,  when 
he  was  appointed  Major-General  in  the  U.  S.  Army  and  ordered 
to  command  the  Department  of  the  Missouri.  He  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  Division  of  the  Pacific  from  1870  to  1876,  when  he 
was  assigned  to  the  superintendency  of  the  U.  S.  military 
academy,  and  in  1883  to  the  command  of  the  Division  of  the 
Missouri,  where  he  remained  till  1886,  when  he  took  charge  of 
the  Division  of  the  Atlantic.  He  was  appointed  Lieutenant- 
General  in  February,  1896,  and  retired  in  September  of  that  year. 

As  intended,  I  have  briefly  referred  to  the  brilliant  and  mer 
itorious  sendees  of  our  beloved  Companion,  Lieutenant-General 
SCHOFIELD.  They  are  written  in  the  annals  of  the  great  Civil 
War  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  had  the  fortune  to  serve  under 
his  command.  He  was  not  only  a  successful  soldier,  but  he 
also  distinguished  himself  in  the  discharge  of  the  more  pacific 
and  not  less  onerous  executive  duties  of  a  Secretary  of  War, 
and  as  a  diplomatic  agent  of  the  Government  at  a  critical  time. 

For  myself  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  I  not  only  admired 
General  SCHOFIELD  as  a  soldier,  but  esteemed  him  as  a  personal 
friend,  and  it  is  with  no  little  satisfaction  I  remember  that  some 
years  ago  when  I  was  recommended  for  Judge-Advocate-Gen 
eral  of  the  Army  in  view  of  an  expected  vacancy,  I  was  informed 

76 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

by  General  SCHOFIELD  that  my  appointment,  if  made,  would 
be  wholly  gratifying  to  him.  In  our  temporal  fortunes,  or 
misfortunes,  it  is  a  hopeful  and  encouraging  asset  to  have 
the  confidence  of  such  a  man,  and  it  becomes  a  pleasant  memory 
in  the  after  years. 

General  SCHOFIELD  was  richly  endowed  with  a  military  instinct 
and  was  gifted  with  the  "genius  of  common  sense."  His  whole 
career  in  the  service  of  the  country  was  ever  characterized  by 
a  conscientious  devotion  to  duty;  and  we  may  well  believe 
that  when  the  inevitable  end  came,  crowned  with  the  shining 
deeds  of  a  good  and  patriotic  life,  he  was  ready  to  join  the  other 
great  soldiers  of  the  Republic  who  already  in  answer  to  the 
summons  of  the  Master,  had  assembled  on  the  far-extending 
encampment  beyond  the  river! 

In  his  declining  days  at  St.  Helena,  Napoleon  said,  "I  shall 
join  my  brave  companions  in  the  Elysian  Fields.  Yes,  Kleber, 
Desaix,  Bessieres,  Duroc,  Ney,  Murat,  Massena,  Berthier,  will 
all  come  to  meet  me.  They  will  speak  to  me  of  what  we  have 
done  together,  and  I  will  relate  to  them  the  last  events  of  my 
life.  On  seeing  me  again,  they  will  all  become  once  more 
animated  with  enthusiasm  and  glory.  We  will  talk  of  our  wars 
with  the  Scipios,  Hannibal,  Caesar,  Frederick."  So,  we  may 
believe  that  in  the  glorious,  peaceful,  and  eternal  world,  our 
Companion  is  again  with  Grant,  and  Sherman,  and  Thomas, 
and  Sheridan,  and  Rosecrans,  and  the  thousands  of  others 
who  in  their  respective  places  co-operated  in  a  common  cause 
to  save  the  life  of  the  Nation ! 

FELIX  A.  REEVE. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

October  10,   1907. 


3ltt 

Companion  JOHN  McALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

BY 

COMPANION  ACTING  ASSISTANT  PAYMASTER  FRANK  W. 
HACKETT,  LATE  U.  S.  NAVY. 


When  a  man  of  unusual  distinction  goes  out  of  the  world, 
leaving  behind  him  a  record  of  achievement  that  is  one  unbroken 
line  of  success,  we  are  apt  to  refer  much  of  his  good  fortune  to 
the  circumstance  that  he  had  pursued  the  life-work  that  best 
suited  him.  The  inference  in  most  instances,  is  doubtless 
correct.  But  now  and  then  an  individual  appears,  whose 
display  of  ability  in  many  directions  is  so  marked  that  it  occurs 
to  us  to  speculate  a  little;  and  we  enquire,  how  came  this  man 
to  make  the  choice  that  he  did;  and  what  measure  of  success 
is  it  likely  that  he  would  have  attained,  had  he  selected  some 
other  pursuit. 

JOHN  MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD  was  a  many-sided  man.  A 
great  soldier;  had  fate  assigned  him  another  road  upon  which 
to  travel,  he  still  would  have  reached  eminence.  Certain  it  is 
that  he  would  have  made  his  mark  as  a  lawyer  or  a  judge 
had  he  studied  law,  as  when  a  boy  it  was  his  purpose  to  do; 
for  it  was  by  the  merest  accident  that  an  appointment  to  West 

79 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Point  fell  to  him.  Had  he  turned  to  teaching  as  a  profession, 
he  would  undoubtedly  have  become  an  educator  of  the  very 
first  rank.  In  a  word,  the  youth  had  in  him  the  making  of 
a  great  man. 

Fortunately  for  his  country,  our  friend  chose  the  profession 
of  arms.  His  fitness  for  that  profession,  and  the  services 
which  he  has  rendered,  have  been  the  subject  of  judicious  and 
well-deserved  praise.  That  his  military  efficiency  was  of  an 
unusually  high  order  is  generally  .conceded.  Had  opportunity 
favored,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  SCHOFIELD  would  have 
taken  rank  as  one  of  the  world's  great  commanders ;  for  he  was 
endowed  with  that  rare  combination  of  qualities  that  means 
success  in  the  problem  of  planning  a  campaign  and  handling 
a  great  army  in  the  field. 

So  brave  and  skillful  a  general  did  he  prove  himself,  that 
one  may  very  readily  be  excused  for  overlooking  the  fact  that 
there  exists  another  side  to  SCHOFIELD'S  record  which  is  deserv 
ing  of  special  mention — and  that  is,  his  aptitude  for  perform 
ing  the  duties  of  a  statesman. 

L/et  me  briefly  refer  to  one  or  two  spheres  of  activity,  wherein 
he  did  work  of  inestimable  value.  When  we  remember  that 
General  SCHOFIELD  at  the  close  of  the  war  had  scarcely  reached 
the  age  of  thirty-five,  we  may  well  feel  surprised  that  he  did 
so  much  in  the  field  that  could  only  have  been  done  by  a  soldier 
of  a  cool  head  and  matured  judgment.  Indeed,  this  quality 
of  an  admirable  self-control  is  a  marked  feature  of  his  character. 

He  proved  to  be  just  the  man  that  was  needed  during  the 
very  trying  period  of  reconstruction.  But  before  his  talent 
was  availed  of  in  this  direction,  he  had  been  selected  by 

80 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOF1ELD. 

Secretary  Seward  to  go  abroad  upon  a  diplomatic  mission  of 
the  highest  importance.  In  June,  1865,  he  went  to  France,  em 
powered  to  act  largely  upon  his  own  discretion  in  determining 
the  means  of  conveying  to  the  Emperor  a  plain  intimation 
that  the  French  Army  had  best  get  out  of  Mexico  without 
further  delay.  The  simple  fact  that  a  duty  so  delicate  in  its 
nature  should  have  been  entrusted  to  him,  itself  testifies  to 
the  worth  and  ability  of  this  modest  soldier. 

Coming  home  after  a  year's  absence,  he  was  called  into  the 
Cabinet  of  President  Johnson,  where  he  served  efficiently  as 
Secretary  of  War.  He  knew  and  understood  Andrew  Johnson 
far  better  than  did  the  vast  majority  of  northern  men.  While 
Secretary  of  War  he  demonstrated  his  fitness  for  the  position 
of  President  of  the  United  States,  though  it  is  not  possible  that 
an  idea  of  reaching  that  position  had  ever  entered  his  mind. 
Few  men  have  possessed  in  a  higher  degree  than  he  the  habits 
of  thought  and  the  training  needful  for  that  exalted  office. 
Firm,  but  not  opinionated;  industrious,  and  yet  knowing  how 
to  despatch  business  expeditiously ;  broad-minded  so  as  to  view 
all  parts  of  the  Union  with  like  interest  and  devotion;  and 
above  all,  entertaining  a  profound  respect  for  law  and  author 
ity,  such  a  man  as  General  SCHOFIELD  fully  met,  it  seems  to 
me,  the  exacting  qualifications  necessary  for  a  successful  admin 
istration  of  the  Presidency. 

He  was  no  politician,  but  a  straightforward,  open-hearted 
officer  of  the  army.  His  instincts  were  sound;  his  loyalty 
unquestioned;  his  knowledge  of  human  nature  far-reaching 
and  thorough.  Public  questions  with  which  he  had  to  deal 
he  examined  most  carefully.  To  his  vision  the  limit  between 

81 


JOHN   MCALLISTER 

the  military  and  civil  authority  was  precisely  defined.  No  man 
revered  the  Constitution  more.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the 
endurance  of  democratic  instituitons,  and  in  the  assured 
happy  fortune  of  his  country  for  the  future. 

We  gain  an  insight  into  the  character  of  our  Companion, 
not  only  from  the  record  of  what  he  did  in  the  field,  and  in  the 
Cabinet,  but  from  an  interesting  and  valuable  book  that  he 
gave  to  the  public,  about  ten  years  ago,  entitled  "Forty-six 
Years  in  the  Army." 

Here,  to  any  one  who  reads  between  the  lines,  there  is  plainly 
disclosed  the  strength  and  fiber  of  General  vScnoFiELD's  character. 
He  modestly  tells  the  reader  that  he  has  meant  this  volume 
to  be  nothing  more  than  a  contribution  of  material  for  the 
future  historian.  The  entire  absence  of  self -laudation,  the 
generous  estimate  of  his  companions  in  arms,  the  clear,  lucid 
narrative,  and  the  calm,  impartial  tone  of  his  comments,  all 
combine  to  stamp  the  author  as  a  man  of  unselfish  disposition 
and  of  fine  intellectual  endowment. 

The  caliber  of  the  man  is  distinctly  shown  in  what  he  tells 
us  in  this  book  as  to  the  Board  of  Review,  over  w7hich  he  pre 
sided  in  1878,  constituted  to  hear  new  evidence  in  the  case  of 
Major-General  Fitz  John  Porter.  Here  SCHOFIELD  did  what  it 
was  difficult  to  do — rose  above  prejudice.  He  expresses  it 
as  his  opinion  that  "no  Government  can  be  regarded  as  just 
to  its  Army  unless  it  provides,  under  appropriate  conditions, 
for  the  rehearing  of  cases  that  may  be  tried  by  court-martial 
in  time  of  war." 

The  strong  sense  of  justice  displayed  in  advancing  such  an 
opinion  as  this,  is  worthy,  it  needs  hardly  be  said,  of  the  highest 

82 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

commendation.  General  SCHOFIELD  exercised  a  clear  insight 
into  the  proper  methods  of  securing  efficiency  in  the  Army. 
He  loved  his  profession,  and  he  gave  his  best  thought  to  the 
means  of  steadily  improving  that  branch  of  the  service,  of  which 
he  was  so  conspicuous  an  ornament. 

To  conclude,  we  may  praise  the  late  Commander-in -Chief 
of  the  Loyal  L/egion  of  the  United  States  without  fear  of  passing 
the  bounds  of  just  and  well-founded  admiration.  The  secret 
of  his  success  was  that  he  was  a  man  of  abounding  common 
sense.  It  is  matter  of  history  that  for  many  years  when  he 
was  in  Washington,  public  men  of  the  Cabinet,  or  of  the  Senate, 
or  of  the  House,  used  to  resort  to  him  to  ask  his  opinion  upon 
questions  then  before  the  country.  They  always  found  him 
sagacious,  competent  and  helpful.  SCHOFIELD  was  a  most  use 
ful  man.  He  did  his  whole  duty  faithfully.  His  name  and 
his  fame  will  ever  be  a  pride  to  the  Army,  and  to  every  lover 
of  the  Union. 

FRANK  WARREN  HACKETT. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

December  30,  1907. 


83 


itt 

Companion  JOHN  McALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

BY 

COMPANION  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH  P.  SANGER,  U.S.  ARMY. 


I  have  been  asked  to  prepare  a  short  sketch  of  General 
SCHOFIELD  during  my  service  with  him  as  aide-de-camp, 
inspector-general,  and  military  secretary. 

During  this  period,  1884  to  1895,  he  commanded  the  Division 
of  the  Missouri;  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Army, 
adding  largely  to  his  already  great  reputation  as  a  wise  and 
able  commander  and  administrator  of  civil  and  military  affairs. 

The  principal  events  which  occurred  during  this  period  were 
the  establishment  of  Fort  Sheridan,  the  disorders  at  Salt  Lake 
City  and  other  places  in  Utah  in  1885-6,  growing  out  of  the 
enforcement  of  the  Edmunds  law  for  the  suppression  of  polyg 
amy;  the  massacre  of  Chinese  miners  at  Rock  Springs,  Wyo 
ming,  September,  1885,  by  white  union  miners;  the  anti-Chinese 
strikes  and  riots  in  Washington  and  Oregon,  1885-6;  the  threat 
ened  uprising  of  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes,  Indian  Terri 
tory;  the  regeneration  of  the  Artillery,  1886  to  1895;  the  out 
break  of  Sioux  Indians  and  battle  of  Wounded  Knee,  1890-1; 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

the  Cour  d'Alene  strikes  and  riots  initiated  and  carried  out 
by  the  Miners'  Union,  July,  1892;  the  municipal  troubles  in 
Denver,  March,  1894,  and  the  labor  strikes  and  riots  in  Chicago 
in  July  of  the  same  year. 

I  joined  the  General  as  aide-de-camp  in  the  fall  of  1884, 
and  found  him  deeply  interested  in  the  idea  of  a  military  post 
near  Chicago  which  he  regarded  as  "the  most  important  stra 
tegical  center  of  the  entire  northwestern  frontier,"  as  well  as 
''the  most  important  center  of  interstate  commerce  and  trans 
portation  in  the  entire  country."  Old  Fort  Dearborn,  which 
stood  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  had  been  abandoned 
and  the  reservation  devoted  to  other  uses  many  years  before. 
The  railroad  riots  of  1877  had  shown  the  paramount  importance 
of  a  military  post  near  the  city,  and  while  General  Sheridan, 
when  in  command  of  the  Division  of  Missouri,  had  fully  real 
ized  this,  but  little  had  been  done  to  vitalize  the  idea  when 
General  SCHOFIELD  assumed  the  command. 

Learning  from  Senator  Logan,  then  Chairman  of  the  Mili 
tary  Committee  of  the  Senate,  that  an  appropriation  by  Con 
gress  for  the  purchase  of  sufficient  land  was  highly  improbable, 
yet  if  the  United  States  owned  the  land  an  appropriation  to 
build  a  post  could  no  doubt  be  readily  obtained,  it  was  suggested 
by  the  General  to  a  few  of  his  Chicago  friends  that  the  neces 
sary  land  be  purchased  by  subscription  and  presented  to  the 
United  States.  Pending  the  consideration  of  this  suggestion, 
all  suitable  and  available  sites  within  a  radius  of  twenty-five 
miles  of  the  city,  including  that  on  which  the  post  was  subse 
quently  located,  were  carefully  examined,  the  prices  of  all 
sites  obtained,  and  through  the  medium  of  the  Chicago  Com- 

86 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

mercial  Club,  the  money  pledged.  Soon  after  this  General 
Sheridan  was  sent  to  examine  the  sites  proffered,  and  selected 
that  on  which  the  post  now  stands. 

General  SCHOFIELD  had  been  in  Chicago  but  a  short  time 
when  he  became  satisfied  that  under  whatever  form,  or  for 
whatever  reason,  mob  violence  was  certain  to  occur  there  again, 
and  that  the  presence  of  United  States  troops  would  no  doubt 
be  necessary,  hence  his  keen  interest  in  the  establishment  of 
Fort  Sheridan. 

At  that  time,  1884,  twenty-five  railroads  entered  the  city, 
which  is  divided  by  the  Chicago  River  into  the  north,  south 
and  west  sides,  connected  by  bridges  and  one  tunnel,  and  it 
was  deemed  of  importance  to  decide  definitely  after  careful 
consideration,  at  what  point  in  the  city  United  States  troops 
should  be  concentrated  in  order  to  best  subserve  the  interests 
of  the  United  States  Government.  Accordingly,  the  General 
went  over  the  subject  carefully  and  decided  that  in  view  of 
the  location  of  the  government  buildings,  troops  entering  the 
city  should  be  sent  to  the  south  side,  and  that  from  no  point 
on  the  south  side  could  a  small  force  be  more  effectually  used 
at  the  outset,  than  from  the  Lake  Front  Park. 

Subsequent  events  proved  the  wisdom  of  this  selection, 
and  illustrated  the  General's  life-long  practice  of  preparing  in 
advance  for  any  contingency,  however  remote.  It  was  one  of 
his  axioms,  frequently  asserted,  that  in  considering  military 
operations,  no  matter  how  insignificant,  every  detail  should 
be  carefully  studied,  and  as  far  as  possible  provided  for;  noth 
ing  left  to  chance.  Many  soldiers  have  had  the  same  views 
but  have  sometimes  failed  to  carry  them  into  practice.  With 

87 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIEUX 

General  SCHOFIELD,  it  was  a  guiding  principle  and  his  success 
as  a  general  having  great  civic  and  military  responsibilities 
throughout  a  long  and  notable  career,  was  largely  due  to  his 
careful  observance  of  this  rule. 

The  disturbances  which  occurred  in  Utah,  Wyoming,  Colorado 
and  New  Mexico  in  1886  gave  me  an  excellent  opportunity 
of  learning  the  General's  methods  of  dealing  with  such  occur 
rences.  Of  some  of  them  I  was  an  eye-witness  as  his  aide-de 
camp,  and  in  all  cases  I  had  personal  knowledge  of  his  views 
and  the  orders  and  instructions  issued  by  him.  Of  the  other 
disorders  which  occurred  while  I  was  on  duty  in  Washington 
as  inspector-general,  I  knew  only  so  much  as  was  current  in 
the  War  Department,  or  as  he  chose  to  tell  me  at  the  time. 
Subsequently,  when  I  became  his  military  secretary,  I  learned 
a  great  deal  more. 

What  impressed  me,  however,  from  the  very  first,  and  on 
all  subsequent  occasions  when  the  General  was  called  on  to 
consider  the  employment  of  U.  S.  troops  in  cases  of  domestic 
violence,  threatened  or  actual,  was  his  perfectly  clear  concep 
tion  of  the  distinction  between  the  military  authority  of  the 
United  States  and  the  States,  as  well  as  the  relations  between 
the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  United  States,  based 
on  his  profound  knowledge  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States  bearing  on  those  subjects.  Not  only  was  he 
able  to  quote  the  exact  language  of  the  Constitution  and  of 
many  of  the  laws,  but  what  was  of  more  consequence  he  under 
stood  thoroughly  the  principles  underlying  them,  as  well  as 
their  proper  application  under  all  circumstances.  In  short, 
he  was  an  authority  on  that  subject.  I  did  not  know  the  reason 

88 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

of  this  at  first,  but  I  learned  it  long  before  our  official  relations 
were  ended.  He  had  made  them  a  study  during  his  entire 
service,  beginning  when  he  was  a  second  lieutenant  of  artillery. 
In  fact,  he  has  said  of  himself  in  his  Memoirs  that  after  leaving 
West  Point  where  he  had  been  Assistant  Professor  of  Philosophy 
and  Astronomy,  he  found  more  use  for  the  law  than  for  physics 
and  astronomy,  and  little  less  than  for  the  art  of  war. 

Just  before  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War  in  1868,  he 
had  several  conferences  with  Mr.  Evarts,  who  said  of  him  that 
he  was  the  best  constitutional  lawyer  he  knew;  a  very  high 
compliment  from  a  very  distinguished  man. 

The  troubles  in  Colorado,  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  1885-6, 
were  not  sufficiently  serious  to  demand  the  presence  of  the 
General,  or  active  interference  on  the  part  of  the  troops,  but 
when  the  massacre  of  Chinese  miners  at  Rock  Springs  occurred, 
and  on  the  request  of  the  Governor  of  Wyoming,  two  companies 
of  the  2d  Infantry  from  Fort  Fred  Steele  were  sent  to, preserve 
the  peace  and  protect  property. 

As  the  case  involved  a  violation  of  our  treaties  with  China 
the  President  directed  General  SCHOFIELD  to  go  to  Rock 
Springs,  and  I  went  with  him.  Before  leaving  Chicago  it  was 
reported  that  a  strike  of  the  Union  Pacific  trainmen  which  had 
been  pending  for  some  time  was  imminent,  and  it  was  not 
altogether  certain  we  could  get  through. 

On  arriving  in  Omaha,  General  Howard,  several  reporters 
and  certain  delegates  representing  the  employees  of  the  Union 
Pacific  R.  R.  boarded  our  car.  General  Howard  explained 
the  progress  of  events  at  Rock  Springs,  adding  that  a  general 
strike  of  the  Union  Pacific  employees  was  feared.  This  gave 

89 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

the  delegates  an  opening  and  they  laid  their  grievances  before 
General  SCHOFIELD,  expecting,  as  I  thought  at  the  time,  some 
thing  in  the  way  of  arbitration  or  sympathetic  suggestion. 
But  the  General  had  given  some  thought  to  the  subject,  and 
while  he  hoped  they  might  be  able  to  adjust  their  differences 
with  the  officials  of  the  road,  he  told  them  quite  plainly  a  few 
facts  with  which  they  did  not  appear  to  be  familiar,  and  which 
evidently  weakened  their  purpose. 

He  called  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  was  established  under  an  act  of  Congress  as  a  post 
route  and  military  road  subject  to  the  use  of  the  U.  S.  for  postal 
and  military  purposes ;  that  it  was  one  of  his  lines  of  communi 
cation  and  indispensable  to  the  transportation  and  supply  of 
the  troops  along  the  line  of  the  road;  that  he  was  traveling 
over  it  on  military  duty  under  orders  of  the  President,  and 
that  any  interference  with  the  road  by  strikers  or  their  sym 
pathizers  would  be  regarded  by  him  as  an  act  of  war,  and  that 
if  necessary  he  would  use  the  entire  force  in  the  division,  num 
bering  at  that  time  about  15,000  men,  to  protect  the  road  and 
preserve  good  order.  He  also  advised  them  to  make  known 
his  intentions  to  their  confederates  in  Denver  and  other  places. 

The  delegates  were  apparently  very  much  impressed  with 
what  he  said,  as  well  as  with  his  manner,  which  as  usual  was 
entirely  devoid  of  excitement,  but  conveyed  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  the  absolute  sincerity  of  his  purpose  and  his  firm 
resolve  to  carry  it  out.  At  all  events,  this  terminated  the 
interview  as  well  as  all  preparations  for  a  strike,  which,  under 
existing  conditions,  would  have  been  a  most  serious  matter 
for  the  Government.  The  opinion  expressed  by  General 

90 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

SCHOFIELD  on  this  occasion  both  as  to  the  status  of  the  U.  P. 
R.  R.  and  the  authority  of  the  Government  and  its  military 
officers  over  it,  was  by  no  means  new  or  hastily  formed.  He 
had  held  it  and  suggested  it  before  but  had  never  been  called 
on  to  act  under  it. 

When  in  1894  riots  and  disturbances  of  all  kinds  were  prev 
alent  in  the  states  of  North  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  Washing 
ton,  Wyoming,  Colorado  and  California,  the  Territories  of 
Utah  and  New  Mexico  and  all  the  Pacific  and  other  postal 
and  military  roads  were  threatened  by  mobs,  the  General's 
instructions  to  the  several  Department  Commanders  of  July 
7,  as  well  as  the  proclamation  of  the  President  of  July  9, 
officially  accepted  this  view7,  to-wit:  that  it  is  not  necessary 
for  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  call  on  the  United 
States  courts  or  United  States  civil  officials  to  give  protection  to 
military  roads  established  by  Congress.  He  does  this,  ex-officio, 
as  commander-in-chief.  Neither  is  it  incumbent  on  him  in 
order  to  enforce  United  States  laws,  to  protect  the  mails 
or  United  States  property  anywhere  in  the  United  States  to 
wait  for  the  action  of  legislatures  or  governors,  and  to  General 
SCHOFIELD  belongs  the  honor  and  the  credit  of  making  this 
principle  perfectly  clear,  and  the  great  railroad  strike  of  1894 
was  the  occasion. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  strike  originated  with  em 
ployees  of  the  Pullman  Company  at  Pullman,  Ills.,  about  two 
thousand  of  whom  stopped  work  in  May,  over  a  refusal  of  the 
company  to  raise  wages.  This  was  followed  by  a  boycott 
against  Pullman  cars  by  the  American  Railway  Union,  and 
strikes  were  ordered  on  several  of  the  railroads  entering  Chicago 

91 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

as  well  as  on  the  Union  Transit  Stock  Yard  Co.,  and  there  was 
a  general  refusal  to  haul  Pullman  cars.  To  this  end  they  were 
detached  from  trains  by  the  strikers,  and  either  badly  damaged 
or  destroyed,  and  trains  hauling  Pullman  cars  were  derailed, 
thus  interrupting  traffic  and  obstructing  the  mails.  As  soon 
as  this  state  of  affairs  became  known  in  Washington  the  United 
States  Attorney-General  ordered  the  United  States  District 
Attorney  in  Chicago  to  protect  the  mail  trains  with  United 
States  marshals,  and  the  district  court  issued  an  injunction 
against  the  strikers,  to  which,  however,  they  paid  no  attention, 
thus  defying  the  laws  and  the  authority  of  the  United  States. 

As  the  courts  were  powerless  to  enforce  their  decrees,  and 
the  violence  of  the  mob  was  sufficient  to  excite  apprehension 
for  the  safety  of  United  States  property  in  Chicago,  the 
question  arose  at  the  White  House  as  to  whether  or  not  United 
States  troops  could  be  ordered  to  Chicago  to  enforce  the  laws, 
protect  the  government  property  and  remove  all  obstruction 
to  the  mails,  without  a  call  from  the  Governor  or  Legislature 
of  Illinois.  General  SCHOFIELD  had  no  doubt  that  they  could 
be,  as  he  had  studied  that  question  long  before,  and  being 
called  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Cabinet  where  the  subject 
was  considered,  so  informed  the  President,  who  reached  the 
same  conclusion  after  some  investigation  of  the  laws  by  the 
Attorney-General. 

In  anticipation  of  this  result  the  General  on  July  2  telegraphed 
the  Commanding  General,  Department  of  Missouri,  to  make 
all  necessary  arrangements,  confidentially,  for  the  transporta 
tion  of  the  entire  garrison  of  Fort  Sheridan  to  the  Lake  Front 
Park,  Chicago,  and  that  the  orders  for  the  movement  might 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFlELD. 

be  expected  at  any  time.  On  the  following  day  the  orders 
were  issued  to  move  the  troops  to  Chicago,  "there  to  execute 
the  orders  and  processes  of  the  United  States  courts,  to  prevent 
the  obstruction  of  the  mails,  and  generally  to  prevent  the 
obstruction  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States." 

Nothing  could  have  been  plainer  than  these  two  orders,  one 
designating  the  precise  place  in  Chicago,  Lake  Front  Park,  to 
which  the  troops  were  to  go,  and  the  other  the  exact  nature 
of  the  duties  devolving  on  them.  Nevertheless,  on  the  request 
of  the  United  States  marshal  they  were  diverted  from  the  Lake 
Front  Park  and  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  sent  to  Chicago, 
and  divided  into  detachments  to  protect  private  property, 
thus  violating  the  posse  commitatus  law  of  1878,  disobeying 
their  instructions  and  leaving  the  protection  of  the  mails  and 
United  States  property  to  the  care  of  the  marshals.*  It  was 
not  the  President's  intention,  nor  had  he  any  authority  to  use 
the  troops  to  preserve  the  peace  in  Chicago,  or  to  protect 
private  property;  for  such  a  purpose  the  troops  could  not  be 
used  without  a  call  from  the  governor  or  the  legislature.  But 
the  governor  up  to  that  time  had  not  even  called  out  the  Na 
tional  Guard,  and  shortly  after  protested  to  the  President 
against  the  presence  of  United  States  troops  in  Chicago,  claim 
ing  that  they  were  unnecessary  and  that  the  state  authorities 
were  amply  able  to  enforce  the  laws,  preserve  the  peace  and 
protect  property  in  the  city.  Of  course  he  was  mistaken  and 
eventually  it  required  the  garrisons  of  Forts  Wayne,  Omaha 
and  Riley  to  carry  out  the  President's  orders. 

I  have  cited  this  case  somewhat  at  length  because  it  shows 

*  The  Department  Commander  was  absent  when  these  orders  were  re 
ceived,  but  returned  to  Chicago  July  4. 

93 


JOHN    MCALLISTER   SCHOFlELD. 

how  perfectly  clear-headed  General  SCHOFIELD  was,  not  only 
as  to  the  authority  of  the  President,  but  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  duty  demanded  of  the  troops  and  their  tactical  employ 
ment.  Concentrated  at  Lake  Front  Park  and  acting  as  a 
single  compact  body,  as  General  SCHOFIELD  intended  and 
supposed  they  would  be,  the  garrison  of  Fort  Sheridan  would 
have  been  amply  able,  at  that  stage  of  the  disorder,  to  execute 
the  President's  orders,  and  that  was  their  sole  duty.  Divided 
into  detachments  and  sent  to  look  after  private  property,  they 
were  too  weak  at  all  points  to  make  any  serious  impression 
on  the  mob,  and  if  while  so  employed  they  had  been  called 
on  to  protect  the  property  and  enforce  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  they  would  have  been  unable  to  do  so  without  a  delay 
which  might  have  proved  disastrous. 

On  the  death  of  General  Hancock  in  the  spring  of  1886, 
General  SCHOFIELD  was  tendered  and  accepted  the  command 
of  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic,  believing,  as  he  did,  that  Indian 
wars  were  approaching  an  end  and  that  the  relative  importance 
of  the  two  divisions  would  change  once  Congress  was  aroused 
to  the  necessities  of  the  sea  coast  defenses  and  those  of  our 
northeastern  frontier.  He  relinquished  command  of  the  Divi 
sion  of  the  Missouri  April  9,  and  on  April  13  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic. 

He  immediately  commenced  an  investigation  of  the  arma 
ment  and  condition  of  all  the  defenses  in  the  division  as  well 
as  the  condition  and  employment  of  the  artillery  troops  where - 
ever  stationed. 

There  were  at  that  time  sixty-six  military  posts  in  the 
Division  of  the  Atlantic,  of  which  twenty-seven  were  garrisoned 

94 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

and  thirty-nine  ungarrisoned.  Of  the  total  number,  fifty-one 
were  sea  coast  forts,  and  the  remainder  barracks,  properly 
speaking.  Of  the  garrisoned  forts  fifteen  had  no  armaments 
and  the  armaments  of  all  the  others  were  the  old  muzzle  load 
ing  types  of  low  power,  mounted  usually  on  barbette  carriages. 
The  efficiency  of  the  artillery  personnel  was  far  from  satisfactory, 
owing  to  a  lack  of  proper  instruction,  due  in  turn  to  a  lack  of 
proper  facilities.  Artillery  target  practice,  except  at  Forts 
Hamilton,  Wadsworth  and  Monroe,  had  practically  ceased 
in  the  Division,  and  of  the  forty-five  companies  of  artillery 
comprising  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  entire  artillery  troops 
of  the  army,  only  ten  batteries,  continually  at  the  artillery 
school,  Fort  Monroe,  had  had  annual  target  practice  during  the 
preceding  ten  years,  and  some  of  the  batteries  had  not  fired  a  shot. 
Of  course  the  General  was  unable  to  effect  any  immediate 
improvement  in  the  armament;  that  could  only  be  done  by 
the  Ordnance  Department  under  an  appropriation  by  Congress. 
Nevertheless,  through  his  annual  reports,  and  other  commu 
nications,  written  and  oral,  and  his  personal  influence  as  a 
general  officer  of  artillery  training  and  high  scientific  accom 
plishments,  he  was  able  to  present  the  defects  of  our  defenses 
so  graphically  as  to  excite  public  interest  in  a  subject  which, 
except  in  the  Engineer  and  Ordnance  Departments,  had  been 
allowed  to  sleep  since  the  report  of  the  Endicott  Board  had 
awakened  the  country  to  our  defenseless  condition.  But 
while  improvement  in  the  forts  and  guns  must  be  necessarily 
slow,  no  reason  was  apparent  why  the  foot  artillery  should  not 
be  aroused  from  its  condition  of  lethargy  as ' '  red  legged  infantry, ' ' 
and  made  efficient  in  its  legitimate  and  paramount  duties. 

95 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFlELD. 

General  SCHOFIEXD  recognized  at  the  outset  that,  however 
desirable,  this  would  not  be  an  easy  matter.  All  of  the  field 
officers  and  many  of  the  captains  and  lieutenants  of  artillery 
were  past  middle  age,  and  had  grown  old  under  a  system  of 
instruction  which  was  confined  mainly  to  the  manual  of  the 
piece  and  infantry  drill.  The  suggestion  that  there  was  any 
necessity  for  a  change  was  met  by  a  counter  suggestion  that 
the  change  would  come  with  the  change  of  armament,  and  that 
in  the  meantime,  as  one  old  officer  put  it,  "they  wanted  to  be 
left  alone."  But  having  once  gone  over  the  subject  with  great 
care,  considering  it  as  was  his  habit,  from  all  points  of  view, 
including  the  apathy  and  indifference  to  be  overcome  among 
the  older  officers,  the  General  resolved  to  go  ahead. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  relate  in  detail  the  story  of  artillery 
regeneration ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  within  two  years  after 
he  assumed  command  of  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic,  a  system 
of  target  practice  and  fire  control  had  been  initiated,  applicable 
to  all  the  sea  coast  defenses  in  the  Division,  and  that  on  his 
accession  to  the  command  of  the  army  in  1888  he  extended 
this  system  to  the  other  coast  defenses. 

Meanwhile,  September  22,  1888,  the  Board  of  Ordnance  and 
Fortifications  was  established  and  General  SCHOFIELD  was  its 
first  president.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  fortunate  for 
the  artillery.  His  evenly  balanced  mind,  his  scientific  training 
and  his  knowledge  of  existing  defects  in  the  artillery,  enabled 
him  to  direct  the  operations  of  the  Board  with  such  wisdom 
and  discretion  as  to  be  highly  beneficial  to  the  military  needs 
of  the  country. 

The  start  thus  given  the  artillery  by  General  SCHOFIELD  as 

96 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

a  division  commander  received  such  an  impetus  at  his  hands 
after  he  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  army,  that  it  has 
been  able  to  overcome  all  obstacles,  and  no  one  would  think 
of  comparing  the  artillery  of  1886  with  the  highly  trained 
and  expert  artillery  corps  of  the  present  day. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  in  his  anxiety  to  reform  the 
foot  artillery ,  General  SCHOFIELD  overlooked  the  field  artillery. 
On  the  contrary,  back  in  1868,  while  Secretary  of  War,  he  es 
tablished  a  school  for  field  artillery  at  Fort  Riley,  which  for 
some  unexplained  reason  was  broken  up  by  his  successor  a 
few  years  later.  As  soon,  however,  as  he  assumed  command 
of  the  Division  of  the  Missouri  (1883),  he  revived  the  idea  of 
a  field  artillery  school  at  Fort  Riley,  and  as  General  Sheridan 
was  equally  interested  in  a  school  for  cavalry,  they  joined 
forces  and  the  present  school  for  Cavalry  and  Light  Artillery 
at  Fort  Riley  was  the  result. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  great  value  of  General 
SCHOFIELD'S  services  in  reforming  the  artillery.  Gen.  Henry 
J.  Hunt  and  other  prominent  artillery  officers  were  fully  aware 
of  its  defects,  but  from  causes  inherent  in  the  organization  of 
our  army  and  from  personal  jealousies  they  were  never  able 
to  stir  the  "authorities  that  be,"  or  infuse  into  the  artillery 
itself  a  full  realization  of  the  importance  of  doing  something 
besides  criticize.  The  infantry  and  cavalry  had  always  been 
looked  after,  owing  to  the  large  preponderance  of  general  and 
staff  officers  appointed  from  among  them.  The  artillery, 
on  the  contrary,  despite  its  glorious  services  during  the  Mexican 
and  Civil  Wars,  had  been  allowed  to  remain  stagnant,  unaf 
fected  by  the  progress  of  science  and  the  artillery  reforms 
everywhere  adopted  in  the  armies  of  Europe. 

97 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFlELD. 

However  he  might  have  wished  to  do  so,  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  whether  any  other  general  officer  of  our  army  could 
have  done  for  the  artillery  what  General  SCHOFIELD  did.  Some 
thing  more  than  high  rank  and  the  ability  to  command  large 
bodies  of  troops  was  necessary,  and  this  General  ScnoFiEU)  had, 
namely,  a  mind  thoroughly  trained  to  scientific  investigation, 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  status  of  foreign  artillery  systems  and 
a  practical  idea  of  what  was  necessary.  Besides  this  he  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  the  army  and  of  the  artillery  which  soon 
entered  into  his  plans  for  its  amelioration,  reaching  at  last  its 
present  high  state  of  efficiency. 

One  other  event  occurred  while  the  General  was  in  command 
of  the  Division  of  the  Atlantic  which  is  worthy  of  note  as  it 
brought  to  light  very  forcibly  one  of  the  most  pernicious  and 
demoralizing  theories  which  ever  emanated  from  the  War 
Department.  I  refer  to  the  theory  of  multiple  command 
under  which  the  order  of  the  chief  of  a  bureau  of  the  War 
Department  was  claimed  to  be  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  in  the  same  way  that  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
is  the  order  of  the  President,  and  equally  operative  and  binding 
on  the  army.  It  so  happened  that  a  contract  for  beef  approved 
by  General  SCHOFIELD,  was  awarded  by  the  Chief  Commissary 
of  the  division.  It  was  not  given  to  the  lowest  bidder  who 
had  defaulted  on  the  contract  of  the  previous  year,  and  whose 
bondsmen  had  failed  to  qualify  as  required  by  law.  He  ap 
pealed  to  the  War  Department,  whereupon  the  Commissary 
General  ordered  the  Chief  Commissary  of  the  Division  in  a 
letter  sent  to  him  direct,  and  without  notice  of  any  kind  to 
General  SCHOFIELD,  to  annul  the  contract  already  awarded, 
and  make  a  new  contract  with  the  lowest  bidder. 

!   98 


JOHN   MCALLISTER 

Against  this  wholly  unprecedented  overruling  of  his  authority 
as  Division  Commander  by  a  subordinate  officer  of  the  War 
Department  the  General  appealed  to  the  Secretary  of  War; 
but  it  so  happened  that  when  his  letter  reached  the  War  Depart 
ment  the  Commissary  General  was  acting  Secretary  of  War, 
and  promptly  decided  against  him  for  the  reason  already 
stated,  which  caused  the  General  to  remark  that  "it  was  quite 
important  for  an  officer  not  to  enter  a  combat  where  he  is  sure 
to  be  beaten,  as,  for  instance,  where  his  opponent  is  the  judge 
who  is  to  decide  the  issue."  Of  course  that  put  an  end  to  the 
controversy  for  the  time  being,  but  soon  after  he  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  the  army  the  General  brought  the  case 
to  the  attention  of  the  Secretary,  who  promptly  disclaimed 
ever  having  knowingly  given  his  sanction  to  the  doctrine 
proclaimed  by  the  Commissary  General. 

In  a  short  time  this  theory  was  utterly  repudiated  as  no 
doubt  it  should  have  been,  for  nothing  in  the  way  of  mal 
administration  could  have  been  more  pernicious  and  subversive 
of  the  authority  of  division  and  department  commanders. 
Under  this  theory  military  operations  could  be  so  jeopardized 
by  the  chiefs  of  the  staff  departments  acting  through  their 
subordinates  on  the  staffs  of  military  commanders  as  to  make 
them  all  but  impossible,  and  General  SCHOFIELD  could  have 
rendered  no  greater  service  to  the  army  and  the  country  at 
that  time  than  by  courageously  denouncing  this  absurd  and 
unwarranted  assumption  of  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  and  in  trying  to  put  an  end  to  it. 

No  other  event  occurred  at  all  commensurate  with  this 
unless  it  was  the  regeneration  of  the  artillery,  while  General 

99 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

SCHOFIELD  remained  in  command  of  the  Division.  Of  minor 
events  I  can  recall  the  Inauguration  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty 
Enlightening  the  World,  of  which  he  had  charge,  the  visit  of 
Queen  Kapiolani  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  the  first  attempt 
to  inaugurate  joint  maneuvers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  sug 
gested  by  General  SCHOFIELD  and  Rear  Admiral  Luce  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  the  efficiency  of  our  coast  defenses  and  which 
has  now  become  a  part  of  our  annual  artillery  instruction. 

In  June,  1888,  under  a  change  in  the  Army  Regulations 
affecting  aides,  I  was  relieved  from  duty  with  General  SCHOFIELD 
and  ordered  to  join  my  company  in  California,  and  soon  after 
General  SCHOFIELD,  on  the  death  of  General  Sheridan,  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  army. 

In  the  spring  of  1889  I  was  appointed  Major  and  Inspector- 
General  and  ordered  to  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  with 
headquarters  at  Fort  Leavenworth.  In  the  fall  of  that  year 
the  Secretary  of  War  accompanied  by  General  SCHOFIELD  visited 
Fort  Leavenworth  and  I  then  learned  from  him  of  his  first 
experiences  in  command  of  the  army,  an  account  of  which 
will  be  found  in  his  published  Memoirs.  I  was  not  surprised 
to  hear  that  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  misrepresent  him 
to  the  Secretary,  or  that  the  attempt  had  failed,  and  its 
author  discredited  and  humiliated.  General  SCHOFIELD  was 
fully  conversant  with  the  methods  prevailing  in  the  War  Depart 
ment  by  which  the  Commanding  General  was  stripped  of  all 
authority  and  made  to  appear  as  a  mere  figurehead,  and  he 
was  resolved  before  he  went  to  Washington  not  to  be  victim 
ized  as  his  predecessors  had  been.  Accordingly  he  took  advan 
tage  of  the  first  opportunity  to  expose  those  methods  to  the 


JOHN   MCAUJSTER  SCHOFIEUX 

Secretary,  square  himself  with  that  official,  and,  if  possible, 
gain  his  confidence.  All  officers  who  served  in  the  War  Depart 
ment  while  he  was  there  know  how  well  he  succeeded,  becoming, 
in  fact  as  in  name,  the  Commanding  General  of  the  army. 

In  the  fall  of  1890  I  was  relieved  from  duty  as  Inspector- 
General,  Department  of  Missouri,  and  ordered  to  report  to 
the  Inspector-General  of  the  army.  I  continued  on  duty  in 
the  War  Department  as  an  inspector  until  General  SCHOFIELD, 
by  a  special  act  of  Congress,  was  appointed  Lieut enant-General 
(1895),  when  I  became  his  military  secretary. 

During  this  period  I  saw  a  great  deal  of  the  General  and 
made  several  inspections  for  him,  the  most  important  of  which 
was  the  entire  line  of  sea  coast  defenses  from  Fort  Livingston, 
Barataria  Bay,  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  Fort  Delaware  on  the  Dela 
ware  River.  This  inspection  grew  out  of  the  agitation  over 
Cuba,  and  General  SCHOFIELD'S  desire  to  know  the  exact  state 
of  all  the  forts,  whether  garrisoned  or  not. 

The  riots  and  mob  violence  already  mentioned  developed 
much  ignorance  as  to  the  duty  of  troops  in  such  cases,  and 
called  forth  the  instructions  of  May  25  and  July  9,  1894,  for 
the  government  of  the  army  in  dealing  with  mobs,  prepared 
by  General  SCHOFIELD.  These  instructions  embodied  the  legal 
and  tactical  considerations  involved  in  the  employment  of 
troops  acting  under  the  orders  of  the  President  to  enforce  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  protect  government  property. 
They  were  embodied  in  the  Army  Regulations  of  1895,  and 
settled  for  all  time,  it  is  hoped,  a  question  about  which  there 
had  existed  a  great  deal  of  misapprehension  even  among 
officers  of  the  highest  rank.  It  may  be  said  that  this  was 
the  last  great  service  rendered  by  General  ScuoFiEU)  to  the 

101 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Government,  as  on  the  29th  of  September,  1895,  he  was  placed 
on  the  retired  list  of  the  army. 

In  this  brief  sketch  I  have  endeavored  to  set  forth  so  much 
of  General  Schofield's  military  services  as  came  under  my  per 
sonal  observation  during  a  period  of  comparative  peace,  and 
while  the  events  herein  stated,  as  compared  with  the  more 
stirring  incidents  in  General  Schofield's  life,  may  seem  to  the 
reader  of  little  importance,  they  served  to  demonstrate  his 
unusual  foresight  and  how  thoroughly  competent  he  was  to 
deal  with  complex  and  obscure  military  questions  but  little 
understood,  apparently,  by  the  army,  and  to  act  as  military 
adviser  to  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War.  In  this  last 
respect  he  probably  met  with  greater  success  than  any  of  his 
predecessors,  General  Grant  alone  excepted.  That  he  should 
have  won  their  confidence  was  natural  enough  as  he  was  rarely 
if  ever  mistaken  on  any  question  involving  a  knowledge  of  our 
laws  or  the  application  of  broad  principles  of  military  command 
and  administration.  This  was  no  doubt  due  in  great  measure 
to  his  unusual  power  of  concentrated  and  long  sustained  men 
tal  effort,  which,  united  with  his  love  of  investigation  and  analy 
sis,  enabled  him  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  every  question,  and  to 
discern  its  vital  point  in  the  cold  light  of  reason,  unclouded 
by  sophistry  of  any  kind. 

Toward  the  end  of  his  life  he  gave  up  certain  field  sports 
of  which  he  was  very  fond,  and  did  not  take  quite  as  much 
physical  exercise  perhaps,  as  he  should  have  done,  but  on  no 
occasion  did  his  brilliant  mind  give  the  least  indication  of  lost 
power  until  death  claimed  him. 

In  manner  he  was  deliberate,  quiet  and  reserved,  as  are 
most  men  of  strong,  well  equipped  minds  and  large  experience, 


JOHN   MCALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

but  beneath  his  reserve  was  a  gentleness  and  kindness  rarely 
met  with  in  public  men.  He  was  modest  and  unassuming 
and  of  great  nobility  of  character.  In  all  my  intercourse 
with  him  as  his  aide,  his  companion  and  intimate  friend,  I  never 
knew  him  to  lose  control  of  his  temper,  although  sometimes 
irritated  or  annoyed.  He  usually  took  things  as  they  carne 
with  quiet  dignity  and  neither  longed  for  the  impossible  nor 
found  fault  with  the  inevitable. 

These  traits  of  character,  his  profound  knowledge  of  all 
branches  of  military  art  and  science,  his  clear  and  convincing 
orders  and  instructions,  his  tolerance  of  the  views  of  others, 
and  the  fact  that  he  was  never  meddlesome,  impatient  or  over- 
exacting,  made  service  on  his  staff  not  only  a  delight  but  a 
professional  education  of  the  highest  order,  to  which  I  always 
look  back  with  the  greatest  pleasure  and  satisfaction. 

In  his  own  home  and  in  all  his  family  relations  he  was  an 
idol  of  affectionate  regard,  sharing  generously  with  those  who 
had  been  less  fortunate,  the  fruits  of  his  industry  and  success. 

While  his  services  during  the  Civil  War  were  not  as  great 
or  as  conspicuous  as  those  of  Grant  or  Sherman  or  Sheridan, 
his  services  after  the  war,  in  their  importance  and  their  influ 
ence  on  the  army,  were  unexcelled  by  the  services  of  any  other 
general  officer,  and  I  have  no  doubt  the  future  historian  will 
record  the  fact. 

Finally,  he  was  an  exalted  patriot,  loving  and  serving  his 
country  with  exceptional  honor  and  intelligence  and  with  a 
single  eye  to  its  interests.  He  died,  full  of  years  and  honors, 
having  the  respect,  confidence  and  affection  of  all  with  whom 
he  was  closely  associated,  and  leaving  to  coming  generations 
a  lasting  example  of  the  highest  type  of  American  soldier. 

JOSEPH   P.   SANGER. 


3fn 

Companion  JOHN  McALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

BY 

COMPANION  COLONEL  JOHN  W.  FOSTER,  U.  S.  VOLUNTEERS. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

May  22,  1907. 
GENERAL  THOS.  M.  VINCENT. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL: — Referring  to  your  letter  of  the  2oth; 
as  I  expect  to  go  abroad  in  a  short  time  I  thought  I  had  better 
comply  with   your  request  at   once.     I   therefore   send   you, 
herewith,  a  brief  paper  on  General  JOHN  M.  SCHOFIELD. 
Very  truly, 

JOHN  W.   FOSTER. 

My  acquaintance  and  association  with  General  JOHN  M. 
SCHOFIELD  during  the  Civil  War  was  brief.  He  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  which  included  the 
Twenty-third  Army  Corps,  in  February,  1864.  I  was  at  that 
time  in  command  of  the  Second  Cavalry  Division  of  that  Corps, 
bivouacked  north  of  Knoxville  watching  the  movements  of 
Longstreet's  army.  Six  months  of  continuous  and  active 
campaigning  and  the  unusual  severity  of  the  winter  made  it 

105 


JOHN   MCAUJSTKR  SCHOFIELD. 

necessary  for  me  to  accept  a  sick  leave,  and  before  it  expired 
General  SCHOFIELD  and  his  army  had  joined  in  Sherman's 
advance  upon  Atlanta,  and  the  remainder  of  my  service  during 
the  Civil  War  was  under  other  commanders.  I  never  met 
him  again  until  many  years  after  the  war  was  over. 

Having  formed  a  pleasant  acquaintance  with  him,  however, 
I  followed  his  later  military  career  with  deep  interest,  and 
heard  much  especially  of  probably  the  most  brilliant  of  his 
victories,  the  battle  of  Franklin.  The  Sixty-fifth  Indiana 
Regiment,  of  which  I  was  the  first  colonel,  bore  a  conspicuous 
part  in  that  contest,  and  my  old  comrades  delighted  in  after 
years  in  telling  me  of  General  SCHOFIELD'S  gallant  and  skillful 
management  on  that  memorable  occasion.  The  account 
which  the  General  himself  has  given  of  that  battle  in  his  book 
"Forty-six  Years  in  the  Army,"  is  a  modest  but  thrillingly 
interesting  narrative. 

After  I  parted  from  him  in  February,  1864,  we  did  not  meet 
for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  During  that  time  we  had 
both  been  in  the  service  of  our  country  in  widely  separated 
and  different  fields.  We  came  together  in  Washington,  he  at 
the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  and  I  as  Secretary 
of  State,  and  in  our  official  relations  we  were  often  thrown 
into  each  other's  company.  In  1892  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  met  in  Washington,  and  at  the  reunion  of  the  Twenty- 
third  Army  Corps  I  was  asked  to  preside  and  General  SCHOFIELD 
was  the  chief  guest  of  honor,  on  which  occasion  he  was  pre 
sented  with  a  richly  jeweled  badge  of  the  Corps  and  responded 
very  feelingly  to  the  presentation  address.  The  hearty  mani 
festation  of  the  battle-scarred  veterans  at  that  reunion  testified 

1 06 


JOHN   MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

to  the  high  regard  they  had  for  his  services  to  his  country 
and  their  esteem  for  him  as  a  citizen. 

After  that  date  I  was  frequently  in  his  company,  as  following 
his  retirement  it  was  his  custom  to  make  a  visit  to  Washington 
every  year,  and  we  spent  many  pleasant  and  interesting  hours 
together,  discussing  war  times  and  the  public  questions  of  the 
day.  He  was  a  man  of  wide  study  and  information,  of  clear 
and  positive  views  of  current  affairs,  and  of  the  most  exalted 
patriotism.  He  was  one  of  the  best  examples  of  the  utility 
of  the  West  Point  military  education.  He  was  not  only  a 
trained  soldier,  but  he  followed  up  the  instruction  given  at 
the  Academy  by  a  careful  study  of  the  writers  on  military 
science,  and  sought  to  fit  himself  to  give  his  country  the  very 
best  service  he  could  render  it.  Not  the  least  of  his  labors 
was  the  preparation  and  publication  of  his  life  experience 
in  his  book,  ''Forty-six  Years  in  the  Army, "which  is  not  only 
a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  period,  but  abounds 
in  useful  observations  for  the  military  and  political  student. 

JOHN   W.   FOSTER. 

WASHINGTON, 

May  22,   1907. 


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in  the  Order. 


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3obn  mcflllister  Scbofiell 

Born  at  Gerry,  New  York,  September  29,  1831. 
Died  at  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  March  4,  1906. 

Cadet,  U.  S.  Military  Academy,  July  i,  1849. 

Brevet  Second  Lieutenant,  2d  U.  S.  Artillery,  July  i,  1853;  Second  Lieu 
tenant,  ist  Artillery,  August  31,  1853;  First  Lieutenant,  March  3,  1855; 
Captain,  May  14,  1861. 

Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  Army,  November  30,  1864;  Major-General , 
March  4,  1869;  Lieutenant-General,  February  <,  1895;  Retired,  September 
29,  1895. 

Brevet  Major-General,  U.  S.  Army,  March  13,  1865,  for  "gallant  and 
meritorious  services  in  the  battle  of  Franklin,  Tennessee." 

Major,  i st  Missouri  Infantry,  April  26,  1861;  Major,  ist  Missouri  Artil 
lery,  June  26,  1 86 1. 

Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  November  21,  1861;  Major-General, 
November  29,  1862;  Expired  by  Constitutional  limitation,  March  4,  1863; 
Brigadier-General,  March  4,  1863;  Major-General,  May  12,  1864;  honorably 
mustered  out,  September  i,  1866. 

Elected  through  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  April 
12,  1871.  Original.  Insignia  1274. 

Transferred  to  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  California  as  Charter 
Member,  May  3,  1871;  to  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
October  31,  1878;  to  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  California,  February 
7,  1883;  to  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  May  5,  1884;  to 
the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  New  York,  October  16,  1886;  to  the 
Commandery  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  May  7,  1890. 

Commander  of  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  California,  May  3,  1871, 
to  May  i,  1876. 

Commander  of  the  Commandery  of  the  State  of  New  York,  May  7,  1879- 
May  4,  1881,  and  May  4,  1887,  to  May  i,  1889. 

Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Order,  October  18,  1899,  to  October  21,  1903. 


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